Number Thirty Seven: Without the 'A'
by Rikku-Hoshi
Summary: Sequel to Number 37: As Tidus' junior year of Basilisk blitzball begins, he finds his life slowly falling apart. Will he be able to maintain his friendships, relationship, and stay on top of his game?
1. Unexpected News

Okay... This is _indeed _a sequel to last February's story, _Numer__ Thirty-Seven_, believe it or not!

I originally wasn't going to post this. I believe I wrote the opening lines back in October, when hockey season started, and I found myself full of new inspiration and new ideas. I managed to tame the ideas for some time, until just a few weeks ago, when everything burst out of proportion. So, in an attempt to keep myself sane, and to tame down the little Basilisk-jersey-clad Tidus that runs around in my head, I decided to begin writing this.

Basically, I felt that _Number Thirty-Seven _was ALL Yuna. We barely got to see an insight to Tidus. So, here's Tidus' story. (Along with some of Yuna's, of course...)

I'm currently almost through with chapter 3, and I originally was going to wait to post this. BUT, I realized that my winter break was beginning to dwindle, and that it was basically now-or-never to post this. I've been really enjoying writing it, but I'm afraid to report that I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update. My friend from Japan comes on Friday, and she'll be here for a month. I'm not sure if I'll get much time to write. So, I'll be spending every second I can until Friday writing. I hope to get at least through chapter 6, but that will only last for so long...

But for now, things should go pretty smoothly. And the hardest part was coming up with a title that wasn't too lame for this story... Heh. Was I successful? (I don't really think so...)

ANYWAY, without further ado, I bring to you, the sequel to one of my personal favorite fanfics that I've ever written! (XD, next to Combined Yards--I LOVED that story!) Please enjoy!

Chapter 1: Unexpected News

"Tidus! Not only did you make an all-time record by scoring ten points in one game, but you also have become the first player on the Basilisks to ever become captain in their junior year! Tell us, how does that feel?"

Smiling widely, Tidus leaned into the microphone, his glittering eyes on the camera in front of him.

"Well, it feels real great, Bobba," he said, his smile almost full of surprise, as if he himself couldn't believe what he'd just accomplished. He was still dripping wet, his blonde hair falling in wet tendrils to his shoulder.

"Keep your eye on number thirty-seven folks! He's the young one out there with the "C" on his jersey!"

Tidus simply continued to smile, and he knew the camera was getting a nice zoom on the blue embroidered "C" that stood out broadly on the upper-right side of his jersey.

"Last year you scored four short-hand goals, and in this one game, against Zanarkand, the team you lost to in the play-offs last year, you scored five, beating the school's record. How does that feel, to break two records in one night, and against such a tough team?"

"Again, it feels real great. I mean, I want to say it was luck, but I think a lot of it was skill," Tidus said, his smile growing slightly smug.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud beeping was heard.

"Well, that's all the time we have tonight. Remember folks, keep on cheering for the Bevelle Basilisks. With this kid," he hit Tidus softly on the back, "we're sure to win."

"Wait, there's something I need to say," Tidus said, his smile quickly fading. "I really need to say something."

The beeping got louder.

"I'm sorry, but the camera's already off."

The beeping began to ring in Tidus' ear.

"It's really important…" Tidus said. "Please, don't stop the interview!" Tidus looked back at the camera, only to realize that it disappeared.

"No, I really have to say this!" Tidus said, only to find out that his interviewer too had disappeared. The beeping kept getting louder and louder.

Tidus turned back to where the camera had been, only to see Gippal standing there, with a group of younger guys around him.

"Get up Tidus," Gippal said, his voice surprisingly harsh.

"What?" Tidus said, his confusion showing in his tone.

"Get up. Seriously, your alarm has been going off for like five minutes."

"Huh?"

Tidus' eyes flashed open, and he almost let out a yell, for there stood Gippal, just as he had been in his dream.

"Good, I thought maybe you were dead," Gippal said, shaking his head. "Your alarm woke me up."

"Huh?" Tidus simply repeated himself. He turned to his clock, which was indeed the source of the loud beeping noise. True enough, it was five minutes after the time he had set it to.

"Sorry," Tidus said, smacking the off button quickly. "I was having a weird dream…"

"You must have been. You were talking in your sleep. Something about it being skill…"

"I had a dream I scored like ten goals in one night, and most of 'em were short-handed," Tidus said, rubbing his forehead. "And I was captain."

To this, Gippal snorted, and said, "You know Coach would never put a junior as captain. You sure you weren't just an assistant?"

"Dude, I'm a shoe-in for the assistant," Tidus said, and he found that he was quickly snapping back to reality. He stood up and stretched, and followed his friend out the door to the hallway.

"Don't get too cocky," Gippal said. "The junior class is the largest."

"Maybe there will be two assistants," Tidus said, trying to sound hopeful. There hadn't been two assistants for years. Even so, he knew his friend Gippal, who was also a junior, was hoping to get named as an assistant captain.

"Assistant captain is voted on by the team," Gippal reminded Tidus. "You sure you're a team favorite?"

"Of course!" Tidus said, smiling widely. "There could be a tie, Gip. I voted for you."

"Yeah right, you expect me to believe that you voted for me?"

"Why not?" Tidus said. "You voted for me, didn't you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Gippal said, fluffing his friend's hair. "Go get ready. We have practice in like ten minutes."

Tidus stretched and yawned and said, "Well, no matter who gets assistant, no hard feelings, right?"

"Of course not," Gippal said. "Besides, I've made bets that you'll get it."

"I knew you were on my side!" Tidus said happily, as he disappeared into the bathroom. He quickly grabbed his toothbrush and squirted a large glob of toothpaste on it. It was the day he'd been waiting for.

The next night was the first game of the season, and Tidus couldn't wait. It would be an easy game, and he was sure of it, considering that their opener was always against Kilika. This was the last practice the team would have, and the coach was going to announce the team's decision on the assistant captain—usually, if not always, a junior—and the coach's decision on the captain—who was always a senior.

The new jerseys would be handed out, and Tidus expected that his would at least have a beautiful "A" sewn upon to it, if not a "C", like his dream had predicted. There'd been speculation about it, after all. It wouldn't be too unexpected.

Tidus didn't bother brushing his hair, for he knew it would just get messed up in the water, and he marched back to his bedroom, where he found his bag of blitz gear laying on the floor, all ready for him. Smiling, he shut the door with his foot and pulled off his pajama pants—which were decorated with blitzballs—and he threw on a pair of blitz shorts, grabbed a t-shirt, threw it on over his head, and finally picked up his heavy bag.

Tidus went bounding down the stairs with his bag over his shoulder, not caring that it was hitting the wall as he ran.

"Come on Gip, it won't look good for the Basilisk's captain and assistant captain to be late!" Tidus cried as he threw his shoes on.

"We've got ten minutes!" Gippal said, appearing from the kitchen. "Here, drink this."

"What is it?" Tidus asked as Gippal handed him a glass of citrusy orange liquid.

"Orange juice, Ti."

Tidus smelled it, and gave his friend a suspicious look.

"Okay, so I mixed some protein powder in it… That's completely legal!"

"Why?" Tidus asked, but he drank it anyway.

To this, Gippal poked him in the stomach, causing a glare to emit from Tidus.

"You're too skinny," Gippal said. "Didn't Zanarkand say they wanted you to get at least to one-hundred-ninety-five pounds before they'd take you?"

"One-hundred-ninety-five?" Tidus cried, almost spitting the orange juice from his mouth. "Don't they realize that's impossible?"

"Not if you'd get some more muscle on you. Or at least some fat," Gippal said. "Hurry up, we're going to be late."

The two rushed out to Tidus' newest car, and the car he seemed to be the most proud of. It was a silver sports car, and nearly everybody in Bevelle already knew it was his. After all, it didn't have a front license plate on it (which was a requirement in Bevelle, but since it was Tidus, he could get around that) and the back plates were Zanarkand plates, despite the fact that Tidus was considered a resident to Bevelle. Often Tidus would come out of the blitz arena to find random words of love written on his car in window-marker, which, luckily for him, came off nicely enough. The last thing he needed was for his girlfriend to see the pleas of random girls to let them have his babies, or to at least sleep with them.

Thinking of 'the girlfriend', Tidus found himself flipping out his phone, and taking a quick look to see if she'd called.

"Whoa, keep your eyes on the road," Gippal said as Tidus nearly crossed the center line.

"Think Yuna's up?" Tidus asked, ignoring Gippal's comment.

"It's six-thirty in the morning. If she's up this early, she's crazy."

"I haven't seen her lately," Tidus said, shutting his phone and attempting to slide it back in his pocket.

"Where's she been?"

"School," came Tidus' answer, and he laughed. "Which is where I should be most of the time…"

"What have you been up to?" Gippal asked. "You know, you can't fail, Tidus. You were on academic probation last year, and you're lucky Coach got you out of it."

"Whatever Gip. I'll just go pro a little early. No big deal."

"You're majoring in _sports management_, Ti. I think you should be able to handle that."

"It's boring!" Tidus moaned.

"Just deal with it. What do you do instead?"

"I play that new blitzball video game."

"Tidus…"

"Gippal…" Tidus just said, flashing his friend a concerned look to copy Gippal's tone.

"Yevon Tidus, stop acting like a baby," Gippal just said, and he rolled his eyes and focused his attention out the window.

"Hey, did Coach say if he was putting you in tomorrow or not?" Tidus asked then, changing the subject.

To this, Gippal shrunk in his chair and said, "I don't know… I've been off lately, you know."

"Yeah, I do know," Tidus said. "Coach has kept Datto on my line. I mean, true, he's improved a lot, but I miss you man. He cannot throw a pass like you could."

Gippal gave a little laugh, but Tidus knew his friend was worried that he wouldn't be able to play. Although Gippal's hand was fully healed and healthy, he couldn't help but notice that Gippal seemed a little hesitant compared to how he'd used to play. Perhaps he was afraid of getting hurt again. Whatever it was, he hadn't been playing the greatest.

"The freshmen suck this year," Tidus said then, just as they pulled into the arena. "I know I've said it before, but damn, couldn't coach find _any _decent recruits?"

"Ah, shut it, Ti," Gippal said, rolling his eyes again. "Just because you're the only guy picked out by a pro team doesn't mean they suck."

"No, it means the team sucks," Tidus said. "Zanarkand's got like ten draftees on their team. And Luca's got like six. We've got one. Me."

"Don't get a big head," Gippal warned, as the two grabbed their bags from his trunk. "Besides, the freshman could do some good things at tomorrow's game."

"Or not," Tidus said, laughing. "I'm going to have to score ten goals in order for us to pull out a win!"

"Tidus…" Gippal simply said, shaking his head.

"Gip, you just stick up for 'em 'cause they're like all Al Bhed. What's up with that anyway?"

"Tidus, watch it," Gippal said. "We're almost to the locker room. Who knows who's around."

"Voting's done," Tidus just continued. "I'm tired of kissing all their little asses. Seriously, when I'm captain, they're doing some major push-ups. They think they run the place! They're stupid freshman!"

"Tidus…" Gippal simply continued to warn, but Tidus of course shut his mouth as they walked into the locker room, where most of the team already was.

"Hey Gippal!" the group of five Al Bhed freshman said, nodding to him as he walked into the room.

"When'd you get so tight with them?" Tidus whispered to Gippal.

"We're Al Bhed," Gippal reminded his friend.

At that moment, the coach walked in, with a box. Tidus sat on the bench with a big smile on his face, for he was sure that those were the jerseys.

The team all turned their attention to the coach, who called their attention, despite the fact that he already had them.

"Alright," he said. "As you know, we're playing Kilika tomorrow. It should be an easy game. We haven't lost to them in the last ten years."

"And we have me," Tidus said, leaning back against the locker.

A few sophomores laughed at him, shaking their heads. Gippal simply gave him a warning look.

"Alright, first and foremost, this year's captain," Coach said, looking at the team in front of him, "is Clasko!"

"Clasko!" Tidus said, and he almost choked on his own spit.

The spindly defender stood up, a smile on his face, as the coach tossed him his jersey, with the beautiful "C" gleaming on it.

"He is a captain," Gippal reminded Tidus.

"Did he even score last year?" Tidus simply moaned.

"And assistant captain," the coach said, "goes to…" He looked around then, before pulling out a jersey.

Tidus smiled widely and turned to face Gippal and said, "Number thirty-seven!"

"Correction, number twenty-four," the coach said, "Here you go, Gippal."

Tidus' face spun around to face the coach, just as the jersey was thrown to Gippal. Tidus felt the jersey float right past his face, and into Gippal's arms.

Gippal held the jersey out in front of him, and sure enough, there was the "A" sewn onto the jersey.

"Ah, so there are two assistants this year!" Tidus said, "High-five, Gip!"

"Sorry Tidus," the coach said, overhearing him. "Here's your jersey."

The number thirty-seven went flying into the air, and into the shocked Tidus' arms. He quickly flattened the jersey out between his hands, only to have his face drop. Sure enough, there was no "A" plastered on the side. All that was there was his familiar thirty-seven.

"You're kidding," Tidus said, shaking his head. "Coach, there must have been a mistake."

"Nope, no mistake," his coach said, as he continued to hand out jerseys.

"No, there must have been!" Tidus continued to argue.

"We can talk about this after practice," his coach said, giving him a warning look.

"No, we'll talk about it right here," Tidus said, standing up.

"Tidus…" Gippal said, shaking his head at his friend.

Without warning, Tidus spun around and kicked a locker—Gippal's locker—hard.

"Tidus…" it was his coach's turn to give the warning.

"What the hell gives?" Tidus cried, and he flung his jersey to the ground. "I'm not practicing."

"Tidus…" Gippal warned again, shaking his head at his friend.

"We'll finish passing out jerseys later," the coach said, as all of the shocked players sat there, staring at Tidus. "Everybody head on out, except for Tidus."

"Whatever, I'm not going anyway," Tidus said, crossing his arms.

The guys all filed out, with only Gippal staying behind. However, Gippal only stayed momentarily, before following the guys out, cradling his jersey in his hands.

"Tidus," the coach said. "Don't make me sit you."

"Yeah right, like you'd have the balls to sit me," Tidus said. "What the hell, Coach? I'm the top-scorer! How could you let Gippal get that? He's not even going to be playing tomorrow!"

"I'm about to put him in and bench you," the coach said. "That is not how you need to be acting. I don't know if you've noticed, but you've been acting like a brat since the first day of practice. How do you expect to get voted in by your teammates?"

"I'm the best!" Tidus simply said.

"This is a _team_, Tidus. It's not all about you. We're thrilled to have you back, and you know that. But with the way you've been acting, how did you really expect for the team to vote you?"

Tidus took a deep breath. He was feeling a little bit better than he had earlier. It was almost like a nightmare though, and that much he couldn't deny.

"Okay, you're right," Tidus said, his voice very calm. "I'll just go out there and act like nothing happened, 'kay?"

The coach shook his head, but gave Tidus a pat on the back. "Hey, keep your chin up. Maybe next year you can be captain?"

Tidus shook his head. He didn't say it, but they both knew. There wasn't going to be a next year. They were lucky there was a this year.

Tidus swam out to the pool, but he purposely ignored Gippal. He saw Gippal roll his eyes, but Tidus simply joined some sophomores on the team. Gippal was with the Al Bhed freshmen, after all.

Practice was short, since the game would be later that night. The coach continued to hand out jerseys, and Tidus kept his mouth shut. They were free to leave then, although in just a matter of hours, the game would begin.

Tidus acted normal after the game. Most of the guys ignored him, besides a few sophomores.

As Tidus slung his bag over his shoulder after practice, he walked out to his car, before realizing that Gippal was nowhere to be found.

Opening the back door to his car, he threw in his bag, and threw the jersey in after it, before slamming the door shut. He rolled his eyes, and pulled out his cell phone. He pushed the one on his keypad, and waited as it rang.

"Oh, hey," Gippal's voice was heard over the line.

"Um, you coming home?" Tidus asked, leaning against his car.

"Um… I'm gonna hang with some freshies, that okay with you?"

"Gip, I'm not pissed at you or anything!" Tidus said. "I don't know what came over me in the locker room. I'm sorry, okay?"

"I know, I know…" Gippal said, his voice soft. "I'm just going to hang out. That a problem? Go hang with Yuna or something."

Tidus didn't say anything more. He simply shut his phone, hanging up with Gippal.

He climbed into his car, throwing his phone on the front seat. He sighed loudly, and leaned his head on the steering wheel.

Then, he reached over and picked up his phone, and quickly dialed the only number he could think to dial: Yuna's.

The phone rang for quite some time, and he began to worry that she wouldn't answer. He finally heard the click to signify that she had answered, and he instantly smiled, his mood brightening immensely.

The only problem was her words.

"How's the Basilisks new assistant captain!" she greeted him, her voice happy.

Tidus' face simply fell, and he couldn't think of what to say to her.

"You still there?" Yuna said then, her voice sounding confused.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Tidus said. "Look Yuna, are you busy? I need to talk to you."

"I have a class in forty minutes…" Yuna mused. "Are you home? I can stop by and see you."

"I'll be home soon," Tidus said, as he started up his car. "Things aren't going very well…"

"What happened?" Yuna asked, her voice full of concern. "Is Gippal with you?"

Tidus rolled his eyes again. "Don't get me started on Gip," Tidus said, rolling his eyes once again.

"Things not going good?" Yuna asked, her voice growing more concerned.

"Yevon, try things are going awful," Tidus said, finally breaking. He leaned his head on the steering wheel again. "Yuna, I'm not assistant captain."

Yuna must have been too shocked to respond, for she said nothing. After a while, she finally said, "I'll be there soon."

Tidus lifted his head slowly from the steering wheel, and said, "Okay, see you soon."

With that, he pulled away, heading toward his house, ignoring the fact that the large, blue stitched number thirty-seven was glaring at him in his rear-view mirror.


	2. Unexpected Change

Okay, I'm updating this a tad early, but it's my reward (and I guess a reward to all of you too… so yay!) for finishing chapter 4! (Ugh, chapter 4… my head just _wasn't_ in the story…)

Thank you all who reviewed, and please enjoy!

**Chapter 2: Unexpected Change**

Yuna was already there when Tidus pulled into the driveway. She was sitting in her car, reading, although Tidus saw her instantly close the book and throw it onto her passenger seat as he climbed out of his car.

Tidus shut the door, leaving his gear in the backseat. He forced a smile onto his face, realizing that it had been some time since he'd last seen Yuna.

He'd spent the summer in Zanarkand, playing at an Abes summer camp, while Yuna was away in Besaid, which was apparently where she spent her summers. They'd managed to see each other for a week, but that was it for seeing each other in the summer.

Tidus returned to Bevelle in early August, which was when blitz practice officially started. He hadn't really had the chance to see Yuna much, but he couldn't lie—she wasn't the number one thing on his mind. Blitzball was.

Yuna seemed to be okay with that too. Of course, Tidus had come to realize that school was the number one thing on her mind, not him. It seemed to be working out though. Tidus had to admit that have Yuna kept him a little more pinned down than years before, and he had to admit that his playing was better when he didn't have to go to practice hung-over. Not only that, but he didn't have to have anybody on his case about the amount of girls he brought home, or how he really shouldn't be drinking. It was nice, actually.

"So who got assistant then?" Yuna said, stepping out of her car with a look spread across her face that was a mixture of confused and disgusted.

"Gippal," Tidus said, shaking his head. "Can you believe it? He's sucking it up out there too. He's not even playing tomorrow, and yet _he_ got assistant."

"Well, you should try to be happy for him…" Yuna mused softly.

To this, Tidus laughed. "Yeah right. He couldn't even face me. He went running off with those Al Bhed bastards on the team."

"Tidus!" Yuna said her mouth dropping. "Don't talk about your teammates that way!"

"What?" Tidus just cried. "They probably talk about me that way!"

"I heard Datto saying that this year's team is really clique-ish," Yuna said, shaking her head.

"When'd you talk to him?" Tidus said, scrunching his nose.

"I bumped into him at the mall yesterday," Yuna said. "Rikku and I were shopping, and there he was. He practically ran up to me."

"He's trying to get in good with me," Tidus said, rolling his eyes. "But I guess he's kind of right… the team is really clique-ish."

"I think that's sad. You didn't have that problem last year, did you?"

"A little bit, actually…" Tidus mumbled. "Last year there was a group of three seniors and two freshman, all from Zanarkand. See, if you're from Zanarkand, chances are you're good. Not as good as me or anything, but you're good. Well, they all hung out together. I guess they probably started the 'clique' stuff…"

"How come you didn't hang out with them?" Yuna asked.

"I was already with Gip," Tidus said, shrugging. "Gip and some other guys in our grade…"

"So this clique stuff doesn't bother you?" Yuna questioned.

"No, we all get along," Tidus said quickly. "I hung with the Zanarkand guys over the summer despite the fact that I wasn't in their 'clique.'"

"Well, Datto seemed concerned," Yuna said. "And truthfully, I am too."

Tidus laughed. "Don't worry about it."

Yuna looked at Tidus with a suspicious look, to which he just shrugged.

Letting out a sigh, Yuna said, "It bothers you more than you let on."

"It's just Gippal!" Tidus cried. "He's a totally different guy. All these stupid freshmen played with him in junior blitz. Gip and I were inseparable, and now he's too busy with them! He does everything with them. Yesterday, I was like, "Look at me, Gip, I'm drinking beer outside!" and he just rolled his eyes at me and told me to grow up."

"That's the example you're going to use?" Yuna said, her tone rather unsupportive. "Did you ever think that maybe Gippal has matured? He is older than you! Maybe he's finally gotten tired of—."

"Of me," Tidus quickly answered. "Yes, that's exactly it."

"No, that's not what I was going to say," Yuna said quickly. She gave Tidus a quick glance, and then looked down. "But you're different, Tidus. It's not that you're more mature, and it's not that you're any more immature… But you're different. Last year, you were so modest. You were such a team player. This year though, you're… much fuller of yourself. Like your interview in the newspaper this morning…"

"Oh, did you like it?" Tidus asked, his eyes brightening, as if he hadn't been listening to a word that Yuna had been saying.

"No, quite honestly, I was appalled!" Yuna answered. "What happened to you giving your line-mates credit?"

"What do you mean?" Tidus simply questioned.

Yuna shook her head, her eyes now even with Tidus. "Last year, whenever you were quoted in the newspaper, you always said something along the lines of "well, it was a great set-up by so-and-so", or "well, we couldn't have won without Keepa in net". But now, it's all about you."

"Yuna, I'm the only signed guy on the team," Tidus said, pointing to himself. "I'm the only one out there who's gonna be playing professionally."

"So?" Yuna said. "The guys are young. Who knows, they could be drafted in a year or two!"

"Not gonna happen," Tidus said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Those guys are all older than me."

"Tidus," Yuna said, "it's just that it's unlike you. It's unlike you to not give other guys credit. Maybe this whole you not becoming the assistant is for the better."

"What did you just say?" Tidus said, his face twisted in disgust. "That ol' Gimpy Gippal should deserve it instead of me?"

"Tidus, he's your friend!" Yuna cut in quickly.

"Was my friend, Yuna!" Tidus said. "Whose side are you on anyway?"

"It's not about sides!" Yuna argued.

"Then what's it about?" Tidus cried. "You're the one that brought it up!"

"I didn't mean to argue about it!" Yuna said, but Tidus apparently wanted to hear no more.

He simply headed toward his house, yelling behind him, "Don't you have class or something?"

"Yeah, actually, I do," Yuna said. "I'll see you tonight after the game, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," Tidus just said.

"Look, I'm sorry to argue with you and all but…" Yuna trailed. She ended up rolling her eyes. After all, why was she apologizing to him?

"Whatever," Tidus just said, shaking his head.

"Oh, and Tidus," Yuna said then, nodding to his car, "what's that?"

Tidus turned around, only to see that someone had written "Hey there! Call me for a good time!" with their number.

"Damn, I didn't even see that!" Tidus cried. He ran to his car and grabbed a towel from the backseat of his car and quickly started to rub it off.

"Anyway, I'll see you later," Yuna said, walking off.

"Don't get ticked over what's on my car," Tidus said. "It's not like I would have called the number. Even if you weren't in the picture, I'm not _desperate_. I don't need to be."

"Of course not," Yuna said as she climbed into her car. "See you later, Tidus."

"Yeah, whatever, bye," Tidus said, and with that he walked into his house, and slammed the door shut behind him.

He marched right over to the couch and flipped the sphere on, only to see a preview for the game. With his nose scrunched in disgust, he flipped it back off, and leaned back with his arms crossed.

A smile formed onto his face as he came up with what he was sure was a genius idea. The only problem was, he realized, was that Gippal's jersey wasn't around.

The idea, of course, was to go cut the 'A' off of Gippal's jersey, and sew it onto his. Of course, Tidus knew he could never go through with that.

Tidus' phone suddenly began to go off, and his grin returned, for he was sure it was probably Yuna or Gippal, all ready to apologize to him.

His smile instantly fell though, as he realized it was Datto.

"What do you want?" Tidus answered, and he didn't bother to hide his annoyance in his tone.

"Tidus, where are you?" Datto said, his voice soft. "We have a test today in math, remember?"

"What?" Tidus said, sitting straight up. "I have a class today?"

"Yeah, you do," Datto said. "Man, you just gotta show up. Copy the girl next to you or something. Think you can make it in ten minutes?"

"Why the hell do I have a class on a Friday?" Tidus cried, but he grabbed his coat and ran out toward his car.

"You only have to show up twice, and this is one of the days," Datto said. "There's a smart looking girl sitting right in front of me. I'll save the spot next to her for you. Just work your charm and copy her."

"Right," Tidus said, as he started up his car. "I'll be there in a flash."

-

Tidus had no idea how to get to his math class, but by shooting a few smiles in girls' directions and asking them how to get to the room, he figured it out soon enough.

He went marching in, rather out of breath, just as the professor was handing out the test.

"Ah, how nice of you to join us!" he said as Tidus quickly made his way to the spot that Datto was nodding to with his head.

"Thanks man," Tidus said, giving Datto a high-five as he walked by. Tidus knew he was often mean to Datto behind his back, but Tidus reminded himself that they were teammates, and for the time-being, they were line-mates as well.

Tidus took a look to his right to see who the smart girl was, only to meet the gaze of two large brown eyes. The girl was looking at him with a rather shocked expression on her face, and she quickly turned to her test as soon as she saw Tidus turn to her.

_Great,_ Tidus thought with a smirk. _She's already checking me out._

"Hey," Tidus said, leaning close to the girl. "Do you happen to have a pencil I can borrow?"

The girl looked at him again, her face still appearing full of shock. She had very long, straight brown hair and was wearing a faint pink lip gloss.

"Oh, sure," she finally said, after staring at him, shocked, for a good couple of seconds. Tidus simply chuckled to himself. He'd always had that effect on girls.

"Here you go," she said, handing him the pencil.

"Thanks," Tidus said, flashing her a dazzling smile.

She gave him a very small, almost nervous smile in return, and turned back to her test.

Tidus then pretended to look at his own test, but seeing all of the numbers and x's just made his brain hurt.

He glanced over to his right at the girl's paper, but to his dismay, she was covering it with her arm.

"Hey," Tidus said, his voice low in case the professor was around. "Do you mind moving your arm?"

The girl looked up at him, appearing as shocked as ever. To Tidus' surprise, she simply shook her head, and went back to her test.

"Look, I need an A," Tidus said, refusing to give up so easily. "Just let me see a few of your answers."

"Tidus?" Tidus heard the professor's voice boom across the classroom.

"Yes?" Tidus answered, as innocently as he could manage.

"Keep your eyes on your own paper," the professor simply ordered, before turning back to his computer.

"Aye-aye, Sir," Tidus simply said, and looked back at his paper, before quickly turning around.

"Datto, she's not budging," Tidus said, loud enough so that the girl could hear. "And this blockhead next to me," Tidus motioned to the bigger guy at his left, "isn't going to get me an A."

"Hey!" the 'blockhead' said, his voice gruff.

"Sorry man," Tidus said, shrugging, "but it's the truth."

The girl turned to face him, and then put her finger to her mouth to signal him to be quiet.

"Just let me see some of your answers," Tidus said. "Then I'll be as quiet as you need me to be." He gave her an innocent little smile, wondering what her deal was.

To Tidus' pleasure, the girl dropped her arm then, giving him the perfect view to her answers.

"Thank you!" Tidus said, and he quickly jotted down what she had so far.

To Tidus' surprise though, the girl began to write on her test, instead of working out the problems.

_"My name is __Lenne__,"_ she wrote, while Tidus gave her a confused look. _"I play on the women's __blitzball__ team here. I just transferred from __Zanarkand__."_

Tidus let out a sigh, and he said, "Just answer the questions, okay Lenne?"

"Tidus?" the professor said again. "Don't make me tell you again…"

"Sorry!" Tidus just said, and he turned back to his own paper.

Lenne quickly wrote some stuff onto her test, and then stood up, dropping a bunched up piece of paper.

"W-wait!" Tidus cried, quite loudly, for the entire class looked up at him.

Lenne simply ignored him, and walked up to the front, where she placed her test. She shuffled her backpack so that it fit squarer on her shoulders, and left the room.

"Damn, now what," Tidus said, putting his head on the desk. He saw the sheet of paper that she had left rolled into a ball from the corners of his eyes. As soon as the professor stopped glaring at Tidus and turned away, Tidus reached down and grabbed it, and smoothed it out.

There were the answers.

Tidus quickly jotted them down on his own test, threw the sheet behind him at Datto, who said a rather excited "Thanks!" and then jumped up. He placed his test on top of Lenne's, making him only the second one down.

He darted out of the room though, wondering which way Lenne had gone.

He saw her down the long hallway, just taking a right.

"Lenne!" Tidus cried after her. He ran down the hallway, but when he reached the end, she was nowhere in sight.

"Whatever," Tidus said, feeling out of breath. He swallowed and turned around, just in time to see Datto emerge from the room.

"Yeah, third one done!" he said cheerfully. "Who was that girl? She's a flippin' genius!"

"I'll say," Tidus said. "I didn't think she was going to give me the answers! She said she plays on the women's team."

"The women's blitz team?"

"Yeah," Tidus said. "She just transferred from Zanarkand."

"Huh, interesting," Datto said. "Hey, doesn't Clasko hang out with those girls on the girls' team? Maybe he knows her?"

"Maybe," Tidus said. "I wanted to thank her, but she's gone."

"Well, forget about it," Datto said. "Let's go get ready for the game!"

"Yeah!" Tidus said, forcing a smile.

"Oh, and hey," Datto said, as they walked down the hall. "Sorry you didn't get assistant captain. I totally voted for you."

"Thanks," Tidus said, but he didn't want to talk about it.

"So I bet you officially hate Gippal now, huh?" Datto continued.

"No, I don't hate him," Tidus said. "I actually voted for that son-of-a-bitch though."

"Really? You didn't vote for yourself?" Datto asked, looking shocked. "I saw Gippal's sheet, and he voted for himself."

"No way!" Tidus cried. "I thought for sure he'd vote for me!"

"H-He probably thought he wouldn't get it," Datto said quickly.

"Yeah, whatever," Tidus said. "I'm done talkin' 'bout it. The whole thing's rigged anyway."

"Yeah, could be," Datto said, quick to agree with Tidus.

The two were now outside, and Tidus near his car.

"Well, see ya later," Tidus said, hitting his knuckle against Datto's. "Let's kick some major Kilika ass tonight!"

"Hell yeah!" Datto agreed.

They said another goodbye, and with that, Tidus made his way back home.

He saw Gippal's car in the driveway, and to his dismay, he saw two other cars as well, which he assumed belonged to two of the Al Bhed freshman on the team. He let out a loud sigh before leaving his car, for he was not in the mood to face them.

"Hey Ti," Gippal greeted him as he walked in the door. Gippal was sitting in a chair while the two Al Bheds, Eigarr and Blappa, were on the couch, battling away at a video game. Tidus' new blitzball game.

"Hey, that's my game!" Tidus said as the realization hit.

"Yeah, so?" Eigarr asked. "Wanna take me on?"

"No, I want you to—."

"Tidus, can I see you in the kitchen?" Gippal interrupted him. He didn't seem to be waiting for a response either, so he grabbed Tidus' arm and dragged him into the kitchen.

"Tidus, they're teammates," Gippal said through clenched teeth. "You're just gonna treat them like shit?"

"I'm not treating them like shit!" Tidus cried.

"You're not treating them like teammates!" Gippal cried, but he lowered his voice, obviously not wanting the others to hear.

"And you're not treating everybody else like teammates," Tidus said, crossing his arms. "To you, it's all about the Al Bheds. Where's that Berrik guy?"

"At a class. Where were you?"

"At a class," Tidus said, giving Gippal a challenging smirk.

"Yeah right."

"I was!" Tidus said. "I copied a girl's test and I was outta there."

"Tidus…" Gippal said, shaking his head.

"What?" Tidus just said, shrugging. "What do you care, Gippal? Huh? You don't. I'm moving out."

"Whoa, where did _that_ come from?" Gippal said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

"I've been thinking about it all day, _Assistant_," Tidus said, giving Gippal a slight shove.

"This isn't the time to be a baby, Tidus," Gippal said, his tone harsh.

"Whatever, I'm going to pack my stuff."

"And where will you live?" Gippal questioned.

"With Clasko, or with Datto, or with Lucil and Elma."

"Lu-Lucil and Elma?" Gippal coughed. "Have you even seen them lately?"

"No, but we used to party with them all the time!" Tidus said.

"Uh, yeah, partied with them. Like a year ago!" Gippal said, shaking his head. "Have you even talked to them, or any of those blitz girls lately?"

"Yeah, just talked to one of 'em," Tidus said, walking away from him. "And I'm gonna call Elma right now. You know she was totally in love with me."

"You have a girlfriend," Gippal said, shaking his head.

Gippal's statement hit Tidus' hard in the face. He slowly felt the color fade from his face. Somehow, all afternoon, he'd forgotten about Yuna. He'd forgotten all about her.

"What?" Gippal said, noticing Tidus' sudden quietness.

"Whatever, she's on your side," Tidus said. "I'm calling Elma right now."

"Tidus, stop being a baby!"

"I don't understand you…" Tidus said, shaking his head.

"No, I don't understand you!" Gippal cried. "They're teammates, Tidus. I'm Al Bhed. So why can't you accept them?"

"Gip, you don't get it!" Tidus said loudly. "What happened to to Clasko, Datto, Keepa? All them? Wakka's still here, and you barely talk to him! I don't get it! It's like you dropped all the guys from last year to hang exclusively with the Al Bhed. Datto and Yuna are right. This team is too clique-ish. See ya 'round, Gip."

With that, Tidus walked back through the room where the other two were sitting next to him, and out the door, pulling out his cell phone as he did so.

He scrolled down his list of numbers, wondering who half of the girls were in his contacts, before he finally stopped on Elma's number.

He took a quick, deep breath, and then pressed the 'call' button.


	3. Unexpected Competition

Okay, I'm updating this fairly early, but my friend from Japan is coming today! And I only have… uh, through Chapter 5 written, and I'm not entirely done with chapter 5. Oops.

But I do like chapter 5… I liked this chapter too.

Anyway, enjoy!

**Chapter 3: Unexpected Competition**

"…Tidus?" Elma's voice sounded very uncertain in his ear.

"Yeah, hey!" he said, smiling despite the fact that she couldn't see him. "Uh, so, what's up?"

"Tidus, I haven't talked to you in like a year."

"Yeah, it's been a while, huh?" Tidus said, laughing.

"I was actually just thinking about you earlier! Clasko told me Gippal got assistant captain, and you dented his locker."

"Heh, yeah," Tidus said, scratching the back of his neck.

Elma laughed, and said, "Man, I remember having some good times with Gippal and you! Remember last fall when Gippal passed out and you drew that penis on his back? And then Clasko wrote "I'm gay!" on his arm! I was looking through the pictures we took, and…"

"And I told you to get rid of those," Tidus said, laughing. "Or rather, Gippal said to get rid of those… I think he still has an outline of 'I'm gay' on his arm."

Elma laughed, and said, "Man, we had some great times, didn't we? I don't understand what happened…"

"Um… I got a girlfriend," Tidus said, his smile disappearing.

"Right, of course," Elma said. "So anyway, what's up?"

"Gip and I aren't really getting along…"

"No way, you two?" Elma cried. "You two are like soul mates, only… you know, two straight guys…"

"Yeah, well, not anymore," Tidus said, shaking his head. "He's… Not the same ol' Gippal."

"What, did he get a girlfriend too?" Elma questioned.

"No—well, he did, but that's not it. The problem is the new Al Bhed kids. Well… they're not really kids, because they're older than me, but they're all freshman. Anyway, I was thinking about how much I used to hang out with Lucil and you and the other girls and… Wanna do something after the game? All of us again?"

"Well, Lucil and I, and some other girls on the team, were planning on having a little house party. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, I do!" Tidus said quickly.

"So I take it you and the girlfriend broke up?"

Tidus swallowed, and shook his head, again despite the fact that she couldn't see him. "No, we haven't… but we're going through a definite rough patch."

"Oh, that sucks…" Elma said. "Well, me and Lucil and some of the girls are gonna be at the game tonight cheering you on!"

"Great," Tidus said. "Tell Lucil I say hi."

"You can tell her tonight when you see her!" Elma said happily. "Clasko's coming, but I think that's basically it for the guys on the team…"

"Well, I'm not getting along with many of them anyway," Tidus said, rolling his eyes.

"Really? I think our team's been getting along better than ever."

"Well, that's good to hear," Tidus mumbled.

"Anyway, see you after the game?" Elma said.

"Yeah, yeah…" Tidus said quickly.

"Are you going to bring your girlfriend? You're welcome to, you know."

"Uh… Nah, it'll be okay," Tidus said.

"Right, you're going through a rough spot…" Elma said.

"Yeah. See you later."

"Yeah!" Elma's voice was rather excited. "Bye!"

"Bye…" With that, Tidus shut his phone and let out a sigh. Then, he hopped in his car, deciding he was going to head over to blitz stadium a couple hours early.

-

"Yunie, over here!" Rikku said, her eyes lighting up upon seeing her cousin.

Yuna waved and headed over to the small table that Rikku was sitting at.

"Yunie, where is your Basilisk spirit?" Rikku said as her cousin took her coat off and slung it over her chair. Rikku was leaning back with a latte in her hand, wearing a bright blue sweatshirt with the Basilisk's logo plastered across it.

Yuna just smiled and said, "It's harder since it's not my school…"

"Whatever," Rikku said. "Look!" She turned around to show that Gippal's name was written broadly across the back of her sweatshirt, and his number was below it.

"That's cool," Yuna said, picking at her napkin.

"Something wrong?" Rikku asked. "This is the day we've all been waiting for! The home opener!" Rikku lowered her voice to sound like an announcer, and continued her chanting. "It's been a looooooong off-season, but here we are! FINALLY!"

Yuna simply gave Rikku a wry smile.

"What's wrong, Yunie?" Rikku said, finally taking note of her cousin's apparent unhappiness.

"I saw Tidus today…" Yuna started, only to have Rikku immediately interrupt.

"Oh my gosh, I know what this is about!" Rikku said in one large gasp. "Gippal told me. He got assistant, and Tidus is ticked. What did Tidus do? Did he cry? Did he do something evil to Gippal?"

"Rikku, what makes you think Tidus would do something 'evil' to Gippal?" Yuna cried. "That wasn't the problem at all!"

"Whatever, Tidus moved out," Rikku just said, and she took a calm sip of her latte.

"Wait, what?" Yuna cried.

"Didn't he tell you?" Rikku asked, placing her cup back on the table loudly. "Tidus told Gippal that he's moving out."

"Where's he going?" Yuna asked, her face twisted in confusion. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, wondering if she just missed a call from Tidus, being that she seemed awfully out of the loop.

"Gippal said something about some girls that they used to party with…" Rikku said. "Tidus didn't tell you?"

"I haven't talked to him since this morning," Yuna explained.

"Oh…" Rikku said. "Well, Gippal's upset. He thinks his friendship is over all because of some stupid 'A' sewn on a jersey."

"I think it's deeper than that…" Yuna began, only to get cut out by Rikku again.

"Tidus is just pulling one of those 'Oh Yevon, they're Al Bhed' things! He obviously is anti-Al Bhed."

"What?" Yuna cried. "Rikku, he was best friends with Gippal for over two years! And Gippal is Al Bhed! Are you sure your boyfriend isn't just replacing Tidus with the Al Bheds on the team?"

"Oh, so now you're saying it's Gippal's fault?" Rikku cried. "Tidus is the baby here, Yunie. Not Gippal."

"Tidus isn't a baby," Yuna said, although she wasn't sure how truthful her words were. "Well, I mean, yeah, Tidus threw a little fit about the whole 'assistant' deal, but Gippal really wasn't helping things any!"

"How could he help? Tidus is being impossible!" Rikku cried.

"How would you know?" Yuna demanded. "Have you talked to him?"

Before Rikku could respond, however, the girls were interrupted by a voice behind them.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but are you talking about Tidus, number thirty-seven for the Bevelle Basilisks?"

The girls both faced the voice, to find that its owner was a girl of about their age with long, straight brown hair. Her voice was very calm, and almost had a sing-song element to it.

"Um, yeah, we were," Yuna said, finding herself squinting at the girl. Who was she?

"I just saw him today, and he seemed to be in a light enough mood," the girl said, shrugging.

Yuna gave the girl a confused look. Was she eavesdropping on the two, and now making it obvious?

"When did you see him?" Yuna asked.

"At class," the girl said. "He's in my math class."

"Tidus went to class?" Rikku cried, laughing as she said it.

"Yeah, he did," the girl said, seemingly not liking Rikku's reaction to her statement.

"I'm sorry," Yuna said, changing the subject, "but what's your name?"

"I'm Lenne," the girl said, giving Yuna a sweet smile. "I play on the women's blitzball team for the Basilisks."

Rikku laughed again, which caused both Yuna and Lenne to shoot her a glare.

"So do you know anything about Tidus staying with members of your team?" Yuna questioned.

"No, I haven't heard anything about it," Lenne said, shaking her head. "Are you two close friends of Tidus'?"

"You could say that," Yuna said, rolling her eyes despite herself.

"She's—," Rikku started, probably about to tell Lenne that Yuna was Tidus' girlfriend, but Lenne interrupted her.

"Tidus is good friends with two girls on the team," Lenne said quickly, obviously not caring what Rikku had to say.

"How good of friends?" Yuna asked.

To this, Lenne smiled, and she said, "How about I'll give you some information about Tidus, if you give me some information about him in return."

Yuna leaned back in her chair and gave Lenne a suspicious look, but finally shrugged and said, "Alright."

Lenne hurriedly pulled up a chair, while Yuna continued to watch her. Who was this girl? Yuna simply bit her bottom lip and let out a sigh. If it meant understanding Tidus a little bit better, than she would answer any question that Lenne shot at her.

"Tidus used to party with Elma and Lucil a lot," Lenne began, obviously alright with being the first to speak. "I just transferred this year, but I'm a junior. So Elma and Lucil—Elma's a junior and Lucil's a senior—kind of let me hang out with them. They told me that every pre-season and after-season, they were with Tidus and Gippal every weekend. They had some excellent times, apparently, the four of them.

"Lucil began to date Clasko about a year ago, and that's when Tidus and Gippal kind of got pushed away. But it's no hidden fact that Elma was in love with Tidus. In fact, I don't know for sure, but I've heard mention that if Tidus had enough to drink, he'd sleep with Elma. But he always reported to be no more than friends with her."

"So he's still friends with her?" Yuna questioned.

"Well, he didn't see her for a long time," Lenne said. "But he called her today. It's obvious that Tidus doesn't feel anything for Elma. But Elma can't see it. She thinks he's in love with her too."

"Doesn't Elma realize Tidus has a girlfriend?" Yuna asked, crossing her arms.

To this, Lenne laughed.

"Of course she does. But that's not going to stop her," she said, shaking her head.

Rikku shook her head, and Yuna's mouth fell slightly agape.

"Well, Tidus isn't the same guy she knew a year ago," Yuna said surely.

"Which leads me to my questions…" Lenne said, smiling a perfect set of teeth at Yuna. "Just how big is my competition for Tidus?"

"What?" both Rikku and Yuna sputtered in unison, Rikku spitting out a little bit of her latte as she did so.

"How serious is Tidus about his girlfriend? How many girls would I have to go through to get to him?"

"I'm his girlfriend!" Yuna cried, looking quite angry.

To this, Lenne just smiled.

"I know," she said, and with that, she stood up, and walked away, leaving Yuna and Rikku sitting there, their mouths open in utter shock.

-

"Feels good to be back here, eh?" Clasko asked, as he slung his gear bag over his shoulder.

"Definitely," Tidus agreed, as he threw his bag down on the bench in front of his locker.

Datto did as Tidus did, slinging his bag down as well, just without as much style as Tidus had. "We were just here this morning, remember?" he questioned.

Clasko and Tidus shook their heads and each other.

"Well you three certainly are here early!" the big, burly Wakka said as he walked into the room, clad in a suit-and-tie with a clipboard in his hand.

"Wow, you look official, Wakka!" Tidus said. "You're taking this whole 'grad assistant' thing too far big guy…"

"Oh ya?" Wakka questioned, shaking his head. "My first real task is to fix that dent in Gippal's locker. If I was head coach, you wouldn't be pulling stunts like that, Tidus."

"If you were still captain, you know I wouldn't have done it," Tidus said, putting his hands out to show he meant no harm. "Too bad this year's captains are lacking in the balls department."

"Hey!" Clasko cried.

Datto laughed, and Wakka did as well.

"Gippal will be a fine assistant," Wakka said quickly, remembering that he was no longer just a player.

"Uh, why aren't you sticking up for me?" Clasko demanded.

"Because Tidus' words weren't pointed at you," Wakka said, shaking his head at Tidus.

"I would have made a fine assistant," Tidus said, shaking his head.

"Well, tell dat to the rest of the team," Wakka said, shrugging. "Be more of a team player, Tidus. Let's see some passes out there."

"To Datto? Yeah right," Tidus said.

"Dude, I'm right here," Datto said, looking confused.

"Start by being nicer!" Wakka said, shaking his head.

"I'm just kidding. You guys know it, right?" Tidus questioned. Clasko and Datto looked at each other and shrugged. Tidus let out a sigh, and he said, "I guess you guys are right. I'm not very nice…"

"It's not that you're not nice…" Clasko said, appearing thoughtful. "It's just that with the whole you going pro and then coming back thing, us guys are really intimidated. That's all."

"But I'm still a Basilisk," Tidus said, pointing to his jersey that was folded neatly on the bench. "I'm still on the team, guys."

"I know, I know," Clasko said, shrugging. "We just were worried you'd take over, ya know? Maybe your couple of weeks with Zanarkand went to your head or somethin'."

"Do you guys think I've changed?" Tidus asked with a sigh as he sat down on the bench next to his jersey.

Clasko, Wakka, and Datto all exchanged glances, and then all three of them shrugged.

"You take things a little more literally than you did before," Clasko said after a little moment of silence. "Like if I say something to you jokingly, you take offense to it."

"I do?" Tidus asked.

"Look man, we all still think of you as the baby of the team," Clasko said. "But you're not. You're a junior now."

"But most of the freshman are older than me," Tidus put in quickly.

"But they don't have the experience you do. It's rare that a guy comes straight out of high school like you did. But you're better than all of us. It's weird for us older guys, because you're the baby, and yet you're the best."

"And besides, you're hardly 'the baby,"' Datto said, shrugging.

"Nah, to me, he's still the baby!" Wakka said with a smile, and he wrapped his arm around Tidus' shoulder, pulling him into him.

"Geez Wakka, knock it off!" Tidus cried as he found himself being suffocated by the bigger guy.

"But I'm not on the team anymore…" Wakka said, letting go of Tidus. "So I guess you're all babies compared to me!"

The guys laughed, and Wakka rolled his eyes and said, "Now get, all of you. Take a lap around the arena or somethin'. We got a game to win!"

-

_"Damn, how could he miss that face-off?" _Tidus' mind screamed as Datto missed what should have been an easy face-off.

The stands were absolutely crowded, and quite loud. Usually Tidus couldn't hear the crowd from within the sphere, but he could now. He bit his lip, reminding himself that he had to focus. Especially since Kilika's right-wing had just swam right past him. Datto gave him a look as if to say 'what was that?', but Tidus ignored it.

He swam quickly to catch up to the Kilika player with the ball, only to suddenly get slam into Blappa, the defenseman who was put on his line.

Tidus pushed him aside, but not quickly enough. The Kilika player managed to score, being that one of the Basilisk's defensemen and Tidus were tied up.

The entire arena booed, and Tidus gave Blappa a quick shove and swam back toward the bench, being as it was time for a line change.

"What the hell was that, Tidus?" the coach barked as soon as Tidus was on the bench.

"What the hell was _that_?" Tidus questioned as he grabbed a water bottle and threw some water down his throat. "More like, what the hell was with that moron Blappa being in my way!"

"I'm sitting you," the coach said.

Datto gave Tidus a disgusted look at his side and shook his head.

"What are you shaking your head at?" Tidus questioned, taking another gulp of water. "You're the one that missed the damn face-off."

Gippal, who was sitting dressed at the very edge of the bench, as he wasn't playing, shot Tidus a glare.

"Knock it off, Ti," he said across the bench.

"Shut your face," Tidus just said in return.

"That's enough!" the coach said, shaking his head. "Alright, Berrik, you take Tidus' spot."

The Al Bhed shot Tidus a smirk, and then hopped into the pool, following Datto.

Tidus just sat back and took another drink of his water.

A minute passed, with the Basilisks still trailing by a point.

The next line went out, and Tidus hopped up, only to have his coach shake his head at him. With a frown, Tidus leaned back, and took another giant gulp of water.

Half-time arrived, and the Basilisks were still scoreless. Tidus said nothing in the locker room, deciding to glare at his coach and teammates instead.

As the game started back up, it wasn't long before Clasko took a penalty for holding, and with a roll of his eyes, Coach patted Tidus on the back and said, "Alright, get out there. You're lucky you're the best we have on the penalty kill."With a smile on his face, Tidus hopped into the pool, glad to be back. With a smirk on his face, he decided that even after the penalty, he wasn't going to go back on the bench. He was just going to stay out there as long as he possibly could.

The Basilisks won the face-off, and the ball was passed to Tidus. With his smirk still on his face, Tidus caught the pass and swam quickly toward his target.

Despite the fact that it was literally himself versus five other guys, Tidus managed to duck around the offense, and headed toward the defense.

He managed to slip past them as well, but he found himself going too far past the goal post. He turned to find someone to pass it to, but first caught a glimpse of the girl standing outside of the pool, although very close.

It was the girl from his math class.

Without even meaning to, he looked back at her again, meeting her eyes. He blinked a few times at her. His gaze was quickly torn away, however, as he felt Kilika's largest defenseman suddenly slam into him, hard.

Tidus fell away limply from the ball, which was then gathered by Kilika.

Feeling rather in shock, Tidus laid there in the water, before finally coming to his senses. He swam as fast as he could to reach the other side, but he was too late.

With one quick whip of his massive arms, the defenseman scored. Kilika was now up two-to-zero.

**A/N: Okay, Tidus is a _little_ bratty in this chapter. I just wanted to point out that yes, I do realize I am making Tidus a jerk. Don't worry, it's all part of the plan. :) And I also wanted to point out that like this story's predecessor, Tidus is based off of my favorite college hockey player, number 37. I just wanted to mention that the real 37 got chewed out by the coach for--well, being stupid--out on the ice and had to sit. But, since the real number 37 is the best at the penalty kill (gosh I love him), he got to go out. It was so cute because he wouldn't even look at the bench. He stayed out on the ice for a good 5 minutes, refusing to go back out. Ha... Sorry, just a quick tie to the real world... **


	4. Unexpected Sight

I apologize immensely for the late update! My friend is here now (Yay!) so we've been hanging out all day long and talking into the wee hours of the night. (Seriously, 4 AM) So yeah… Sorry about that!

Well, enjoy!

Chapter 4: Unexpected Sight

"Did that just happen?" Rikku said a good five minutes after the final buzzer went off, signaling the game's ending. "Did they really lose?"

The stands were already mostly empty as disappointed fans had filed out a good two minutes before the game ended.

"What was Tidus doing?" Yuna simply said, shaking her head, her eyes on the scoreboard that still read "0-2".

"He's warped," Rikku said, as she started toward the exit. "Warped."Yuna just shook her head again and followed Rikku.

"I bet he did it on purpose," Rikku said surely. "You know, to get back at everybody since he's not an assistant. It's totally something he'd do."

Yuna stopped in her tracks, crossed her arms, and glared at her cousin. "Why are you so anti-Tidus all of a sudden?"

"Because he's got Gippal in such a sour mood!" Rikku said with a disgusted look on her face. "Yunie, those new Al Bhed freshmen are so much fun, and Tidus is being the ultimate jerk. He's just ticked because Gippal has new friends. Tidus can't handle things on his own. He needs Gippal to be there to hold his hand at all times."

"Don't you feel a little bit sorry for Tidus?" Yuna questioned. "I mean, I know he's a little full of himself and all, but Yevon, Rikku, he just played like crap out there. I don't think he could have done that on purpose. Besides, his coach made him sit most of the game. The rest of the guys could have scored too. It doesn't all depend on Tidus."

"Maybe they should have put Gippal out," Rikku said, crossing her arms.

"Tidus said Gippal's been off," Yuna said.

"He's fine!" Rikku cried. The two were now heading to the outside of the locker rooms, a place Yuna had waited many times before.

"I just don't think it's fair of you to keep attacking Tidus," Yuna said, shaking her head. "After all, it really has nothing to do with you."

To this, Rikku stopped, and she turned and faced Yuna with a very disgusted look spread out across her face.

"Yunie, are you blind?" Rikku said. "Yeah, it doesn't have to do with me, but you sure aren't doing anything about it. Tidus has _changed_. He's different. It won't be long before he's dumping you for that girl we met at the coffee shop today."

At the mention of that girl, Yuna's face fell.

"How serious do you think she was?" Yuna asked softly.

"Hard telling," Rikku said. "Look Yunie, I don't mean to sound like a jerk and all. It's just hard, because Gippal is really upset about this. Tidus and him have been friends for over two years, and they've never had any problems hanging out with anybody on the team. But now Tidus seems different. And I think if Gippal thinks Tidus is different, then it's probably true."

Yuna let out a sigh. She remembered her little argument with Tidus earlier.

"I'll talk to him, okay?" Yuna said. "For now, we'll go out to eat, just you, me, Tidus, and Gippal. Sound good?"

Rikku looked stunned that Yuna was even offering the idea.

"What do you mean, just us?" Rikku cried. "What about Blappa, and Eigarr, and Berrik? They're going to come with too!"

"How can we have an open discussion about all of this if they come?" Yuna cried. "Why can't it just be us four? We used to hang out all the time!"

"Gippal is the assistant now, Yunie," Rikku said, placing her hands on her hips as if she was special because her boyfriend was the Basilisks' assistant. "He needs to be a team player. Something your boyfriend is not."

Yuna had to blink a few times. Was Rikku really serious?

"You're acting just like Gippal…" Yuna finally managed to mumble. "Rikku, this has to stop! Why are you being so difficult?"

"Tidus is the one being difficult," Rikku reminded her cousin. "Under normal circumstances, it would be fine if some of their teammates wanted to join us."

"Yes, that's fine, but this isn't normal circumstances! In order to work all of this out, I think it'd be best if it was just us."

"That's not up to us to decide," Rikku said, looking away from Yuna. "And I know Gippal will want the others to come."

At that moment, the door opened, and out stepped Gippal. He gave Rikku a wry smile as she ran up and hugged him.

"That must have been so boring for you, watching them lose like that!" Rikku said, babying her voice slightly. "I bet you felt so helpless!"

Gippal just gave what sounded like an awkward chuckle, and said, "Well, what can you do?"

"You looked nice out there with that 'A' on your jersey!" Rikku said, her voice becoming louder as if she wanted to rub it in that her boyfriend was the assistant.

Yuna noticed that Gippal's smile was completely gone, and he looked upset almost.

"How's Tidus doing?" Yuna questioned, knowing that Gippal's unhappy look was due to Tidus.

"He's in there yelling up a storm," Gippal said, his eyes staring blankly at Yuna. "He'll be sitting tomorrow's game."

"I don't understand it…" Yuna said, shaking her head.

"Me neither," Gippal said, his voice soft.

The door to the locker room opened then, and out stepped three guys Yuna had never seen before. Rikku smiled and waved though upon seeing them.

"Ready to go?" one of the guys, asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Gippal said.

"Wait, what about Tidus?" Yuna asked as the five of them started off, completely ignoring her.

All of them turned and looked at her as if she had just said the most outrageous thing ever, but Gippal finally let out a sigh and said, "Yuna, when he calms down, I'd be happy to talk to him. Until then, see you around."

Yuna watched as they all turned around. "So that's it?" Yuna cried after them. "You're just going to abandon him?"

Yuna was honestly shocked when Gippal turned around again and said, "Trust me when I say this, Yuna. He's abandoning us."

With a shrug, Gippal turned around again, and with that, the group turned the corner, leaving Yuna's sight.

Blinking a few times, Yuna found herself feeling as if she had just gotten hit in the face with something. Perhaps Tidus was feeling the same way?

Closing her eyes, she took a seat on the bench across from the locker room, hoping that Tidus would come out soon.

It wasn't long before a very angry looking Tidus emerged from the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Attitude problem?" Tidus was mumbling under his breath. "Yeah, whatever."

He stopped his mutterings upon seeing Yuna, though, and his entire face fell.

"Uh, Yuna, what are you doing here?" he asked her.

"Um… I told you I'd be here, didn't I?" Yuna simply said, feeling rather unsure of how to answer his question. Especially since it wasn't a question she'd expected him to ask her.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you did," Tidus said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Yuna said. She stood up then, for she realized she was still sitting. "Don't you want to go and get something to eat or something?"

"Actually…" Tidus said slowly, "I kind of already have plans."

Yuna's face dropped even more than Tidus' had upon seeing her.

"Oh…" Yuna managed.

"It's really nothing," Tidus said quickly. "I just promised some old friends I'd hang out with them. That's all."

"That's fine and all…" Yuna said, her voice soft. "It's just that I really need to talk to you."

To this, Tidus gave Yuna a smile that she hadn't seen in what felt like ages.

"We'll talk tomorrow, okay?" he said, tilting his head slightly to the side, his smile unfading. "How about at three? At that coffee place Rikku and you like. How's that sound?"

"That sounds great," Yuna said, returning his smile.

"And then, I'll sit with you at the game," Tidus said. "Since I'm not playing."

"So Gippal was right…" Yuna mumbled softly.

At the mention of his friend's name, however, Tidus' smile faded.

"Yeah, whatever he said was probably right," Tidus said. "Anyway, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Definitely," Yuna said. She stood there with a small smile on her face, expecting a quick kiss or hug, or something, but instead, Tidus just gave her a quick smile, turned on his heel, and down the hallway he went, leaving her completely alone.

-

Tidus pulled his car up alongside the curb and stared at the little while house that was in front of him. He smiled at all of the memories from his freshman year, and the few from his sophomore year, that were spent at that house.

Wakka had actually been the one to introduce the guys to the girls on the girls' blitzball team, most notably Lucil, who, at the time, Wakka was dating. They were a pretty non-serious couple for most of Tidus' freshman year, which consisted mostly of everybody making fun of them because they were both carrot-tops. Wakka broke things off before the year ended though, and Clasko and Lucil dated after that.

Leaning his head on his steering wheel, Tidus reminded himself that Elma never dated, because she was after him.

With a smirk on his face, Tidus sat upright, reminding himself that he always ignored it. He pretended he didn't notice that Elma was in love with him.

Leaving that as his final thought, Tidus stepped out of his car, shut the door gently, and walked up the familiar walkway to the house.

He didn't even get the chance to knock on the door, for it flew open, and he was engulfed in a hug. The only thing he saw was red hair, so he assumed it was Lucil.

"Yevon, I haven't seen you in forever!" she cried, and pulled him into the house.

Tidus simply gave her a meek smile as she started yelling, "Elma! Tidus is here!"

Elma walked into the room only to have her eyes brighten. She followed Lucil's example by running straight over to Tidus and pulling him into a large embrace.

"So you didn't bring the girlfriend?" Lucil asked as Elma released Tidus and fell back to her friend's side.

"No," Tidus said, shaking his head.

"Aw, I wanted to meet her," Elma said, turning around and walking toward the kitchen.

"Wanna beer?" Lucil asked, holding up the one that she was holding.

"No," Tidus said, shaking his head.

"You sure? Clasko's having a few," Lucil said, shrugging as if it really wasn't a big deal.

Tidus felt his face fall. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a little angry. It was team rules that they weren't supposed to drink during the season. Once the games started, drinking ended. Of course, that didn't stop the guys, and since they usually drank together, if they got caught, there wasn't much of a punishment.

For some reason though, it was bothering Tidus. There was no discipline on the team. There never had been. He himself had managed to keep grounded, simply because he had the whole team looking out for him. But no one looked out for them. No one cared what they did.

"He's the captain…" Tidus found himself muttering.

"You okay, Tidus?" Lucil asked, looking at him rather confused. "Clasko said you're not playing tomorrow. That really sucks."

"I don't want to talk about the game," Tidus said, walking past her.

Lucil simply watched him walk away, before shrugging and walking into the living room, where music could be heard playing.

Tidus walked into the kitchen, which was completely empty, except for the rows of alcoholic beverages lined up on the counter.

Shaking his head, Tidus grabbed a plastic cup and walked over to the sink. He filled the cup up slowly with water, and then took a giant gulp. Maybe coming to the party wasn't such a good idea.

"Just water?" Tidus turned to see Elma standing beside him, her eyes wide and a smile apparent on her face.

"Yeah, I'm still pretty thirsty after the game and all…" Tidus said, shrugging.

"So Gippal's really not coming?" Elma questioned.

"No, he's not," Tidus said. "He didn't even wait for me outside the locker room."

"I don't get what's going on," Elma said, her voice sounding concerned.

"Everyone keeps telling me how un-team oriented I am," Tidus said, looking away from Elma. "It's pissing me off to the extreme. It's like… they made me that way!

"Everybody blames me for losing tonight," Tidus continued rather breathlessly. "But I was on my ass on the bench right next to that shit-face Gippal. No one cares that Datto missed the damn faceoff or that Blappa is a suck-ass defenseman. No. It's all Tidus. Tidus, Tidus, Tidus. It's all my fault we lost the game."

Elma blinked a few times. She hadn't been expecting him to blow up like he just had.

"No one is blaming it on you…" she said softly.

"Yeah right!" Tidus said, his tone harsh as he turned to face her. "Just wait 'til they run the story in the newspaper tomorrow. I promise the headline will say something like 'Tidus leads Bevelle to its first loss to Kilika in ten years!'"

"It won't say anything like that…" Elma mumbled.

"It will too!" Tidus said surely and he drank the last drop of water in his cup. "How am I supposed to be a team player when they keep blaming it all on me? The team lost the game. Not me."

"Are you sure that's what they think?" Elma asked. "I doubt they're all blaming it on you…"

"But it was my fault," Tidus said, shaking his head. "I just don't want them to know it."

"Tidus, it's a team sport. And you did sit most of the game…"

"But the guys managed to keep the game scoreless. The only times Kilika scored was when I was out there."

"You're being too hard on yourself," Elma said, shaking her head. "The team lost. Not you! And no one thinks that. Well… you do, but…"

"I just can't believe how out of it I was," Tidus said, shaking his head. "It's like everything distracted me."

"Everybody has their off days," Elma said surely.

"Well today was definitely mine," Tidus said, giving her a smile. He hastily filled his glass back up with water, and said, "So, how many people are here?"

"Not too many. Just a little after-game crowd," Elma said with a shrug. "You know most people head out to the bars."

"Yeah," Tidus said, nodding. He quickly gulped down his water and smiled at Elma. "Thanks for listening to me explode like that. I feel a lot better."

Elma just returned his smile and said, "Hey, that's what friends are for."

"Right, and as of now, you and Lucil are the only two I've got," Tidus said, as he placed his cup on the counter next to the sink and started toward the living room. "I'm even thinking of moving out, you know."

"And where to?" Elma questioned.

"I don't know yet," Tidus said, letting out a sigh. He smiled to himself as he walked into the familiar living room where a few people were. Most of the people were just girls from the team though. He spotted Clasko a ways away, but he was in a pretty big discussion with a couple of guys.

The place looked exactly as it had the last time he'd been there. There was a signed Goers jersey hanging in a frame, since Lucil was from Luca, and quite a few blitzball posters scattered on the walls. To Tidus, it was a second home.

Smiling, Tidus turned around to find Elma again, only to have his smile fade. Sitting on the edge of the couch watching the sphere—which was playing highlights from the game, something Tidus didn't want to see—was Lenne, the girl from his math class.

"You…" Tidus said under his breath, and he marched over to her.

She looked shocked to see him, just as she had earlier in the day.

"You need to sit somewhere else," Tidus said clearly.

Lenne just shrugged at him, as if she didn't understand him.

"What do you mean?" she asked over the music that was playing.

"You distracted me," Tidus said, and he glared at her, and then turned on his heel. He walked quickly toward the door, ignoring the fact that Lenne was staring at him as he walked, a confused look plastered across her face.

"And right now," Tidus said to himself as he walked out the door, "I don't need distractions."


	5. Unexpected Truth

Phew, here's chapter 5! It's a lot of dialogue and whatnot, but it was kind of another 'easy' one to write. It pretty much just came to me, but I didn't get much time to write the last couple of paragraphs... which is why I'm so late updating. Sorry!

Anyway though, enjoy!

**Chapter 5: Unexpected Truth**

It was twenty after three when Tidus finally walked into the coffee shop, the door beeping loudly as he walked in. He hadn't managed to sleep well the night before, due to nightmares of sewn 'A's floating around.

He hadn't talked to Gippal all day, either. Of course, Gippal hadn't made any notion to talk to him. The only thing that almost made Tidus talk to Gippal was the glass of orange juice that Gippal had set on the counter for him. By the time Tidus finally decided to give in and drink it, however, the protein powder had all sunk the bottom, and Tidus wasn't even about to stir it back up.

Yuna was sitting in the corner with a small hot cocoa, her head in her hands and her eyes staring off into space. She must have been deep in thought, for she didn't even notice Tidus take a seat across from her, until he leaned back in his chair as casually as he could manage.

"Oh, hey," Yuna said, smiling warmly as she snapped back to reality. "Um, you're a little late."

"Didn't sleep well last night," Tidus said, and he was sure the annoyance in his tone proved that.

"You do look tired," Yuna said, her smile unfading. "Although you seem a little agitated… Are you okay?"

Tidus found himself staring at her blankly.

Yuna's smile slowly faded, and she cocked her head to the side and said, "What's in your mouth?

Tidus' blank face instantly froze. He shut his mouth tight, and attempted to say "nothing", despite the fact that it came out as "Mmmshhhiingg."

"Do you have like a huge wad of gum or something?" Yuna asked, her face full of disgust.

Tidus simply sat there, in his frozen state.

Yuna smiled again and said, "I mean, that's fine and all, but did you have to put so much in your mouth?"

Tidus simply grabbed a napkin and spit into it, and folded it up quickly and stuffed it in his pocket.

"I'll be right back," he said, and stood up before Yuna could stop him. He rushed off to the men's bathroom, was gone for just seconds, and then came back, wearing a smile.

He sat down as if nothing had happened and said, "So, how was your night?"

Yuna gave Tidus a suspicious look, and she then said, "Tidus… was that chewing tobacco in your mouth?"

Tidus' smile faded, but it quickly reappeared and he said, "No."

"Then what was it?" Yuna asked, a frown forming on her lips.

"Dip."

"Dip?"

"Dip," Tidus said, shrugging. "It's different than chewing tobacco."

"Dipping tobacco," Yuna said then, shaking her head. "I cannot believe you chew that stuff! When did you start that?"

"You don't chew it, Yuna," Tidus said, shaking his head. "You like suck on it."

Yuna just shook her head, her face of total disgust. "When did you start that?" she questioned again.

"Senior year in high school," Tidus answered, shrugging. "What's the big deal."

"Well, you obviously tried to hide it from me!" Yuna cried.

"Because I knew you'd be against it," Tidus said. "And I'm not quitting."

"Tidus, that stuff causes cancer! Haven't you seen those pictures of guys—yes, they're usually guys!—without throats?"

"Whatever, that's like one-in-a-hundred guys," Tidus said, rolling his eyes.

"You could be that one, Tidus!"

"Everybody does it, Yuna!" Tidus argued. "Gippal does it! Datto does it! Clasko does it! The Al Bhed freshies do it! Every blitzer does it! _Especially _blitzers from Zanarkand."

"Why do you have to be like them?" Yuna cried, shaking her head. "It's disgusting, Tidus."

"No, it's part of the game, Yuna," Tidus said. "Damn, I'm not arguing over it right now, okay? There's way more important things to worry about than the fact that I'm a dipper and have been for four years."

"Four years…" Yuna said, shaking her head with a concerned look across her face. "Tidus, just think about your health, okay?"

"I can't smoke," Tidus said, blinking as if he didn't understand.

"I don't get it," Yuna said as she sighed in defeat.

"Nothin' beats some dip after a blitz game," Tidus said, his eyes looking past her. "Especially a game like last night's…"

"Tidus, what did you do after the game?" Yuna questioned then, unable to look at him.

"I went to these friends of mine's house," Tidus said. "Clasko was there."

"Oh?" Yuna said, looking up at him just by moving her eyes and not her head. "Um… Elma?"

Tidus' eyes instantly met hers and a shocked look came over his face.

"How do you know about Elma?" Tidus asked, his tone soft.

Yuna swallowed and said, "I heard you slept with her…"

To this, Tidus laughed and said, "I swear, if I did, I do not remember it."

"Tidus!" Yuna cried. "That's even worse than sleeping with her because you wanted to!"

"But I didn't want to!" Tidus said. "Yuna, why the hell are you being so difficult?"

"I'm not trying to, honestly I'm not," Yuna said quickly. "It's just that I… I feel like I don't know you lately."

"Okay, yeah, I went to see Elma and Lucil," Tidus said. "What, you don't trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you…" Yuna said quickly, shaking her head. "I just feel like I don't know anything about you anymore!"

"I'm the same!" Tidus cried, making sure to the stress the word 'same'.

Yuna just looked at him and shook her head.

"I feel like I don't even know you," she just repeated herself.

"Then you never knew me to begin with," Tidus said, sounding defeated. "Because I've always been this way."

He licked his lips, sighed quickly, and said, "I've always been this way because it's how I've been raised to act. I do dip because it's what all the other guys do. It's like I was taught to do it since I was young. Same with drinking, you know. I never was taught that it was bad or immoral. Same with sex. I mean, it's not like someone took me by the shoulders and said, "Do dip! Drink beer! Have sex!" or anything like that, but I never had anyone to tell me not to do it. The only thing anyone's told me not to do is to not drink beer during the season. But it's not like they really care about me. They just don't want me to have to sit a game. Not that it matters, 'cause I have to sit tonight's game anyway. I know I've been moody lately. I know I've been a jerk. But I… I can't help it."

Tidus ran his hands through his hair, and said, "Do you even have any idea what it was like? Blitz camp after camp after camp. Game after game after game. Practice after practice after practice. I was always changing schools, always transferring teams. I lived in multiple houses, with multiple people. The only family I ever had was whatever team I was on. And just when I'd get used to that team, that school, I'd get transferred. Teams were always able to use me for bargaining rights. "I have Tidus. He's Jecht's son. I'll trade him for two of your best players. Alright, you got a deal." Always. Coach would walk up to me, "Tidus, I'm transferring you." It could be to the next team in Zanarkand, or it could be all the way to Luca or Besaid or Kilika.

"That's why I didn't want to leave here. I like it here. I like this team, I really do. I didn't want to go pro. But it's hard not to let it all go to your head, ya know? And at camps and stuff, they teach you that. They teach you to think you're really it. They tell you how to hit dirty and get away with it. They tell you little tricks you can use to get inside your opponents' head. "Coaches like that kind of stuff" they say. "Coaches like a hard-headed tough player. " They tell you all that.

"I try to keep it all in perspective, I really do, but it gets harder and harder. So it really shocked me that I didn't get the 'A'. I didn't understand how someone like Gippal could get it. I mean, Gippal just played normal, typical high school blitz, and had to play in a junior league. He wasn't like me. He didn't eat and breathe blitzball while growing up. It just didn't seem fair to me that after all I'd been through, Gip got the 'A'.

"Which made me act like a jerk…" Tidus finally said, signaling the end of his rant. "And I'm sorry."

"I try to understand," Yuna said, giving him a wry smile. "I think you should go apologize to Gippal. If anybody will understand, won't it be him?"

Tidus' face twisted into a disgusted look, but he said nothing.

"So how'd you know about Elma?" Tidus asked then.

To this, Yuna's eyes met the table, and she said, "A girl named Lenne told me."

"L-Lenne?" Tidus cried, not even bothering to hide his shock.

"So you do know her!" Yuna cried. "Tidus, she seems to think that you'd be willing to leave me for her."

"Whoa, what'd she say to you?" Tidus asked, looking rather interested, for a small smile pried on his lips. It immediately disappeared though, and he slammed back in his chair and said, "Don't worry, I told her off last night."

"Good," Yuna said, giving him a smile. "I know how you like to get carried away and claim that you were totally 'innocent."'

"Whatever, when have I done that?" Tidus asked.

"Um, that little kiss you had to pull last year in the weight room?" Yuna said, her face twisted in repulsion at the thought.

"I was totally innocent," Tidus said, although a smile found his mouth again as he remembered the occasion.

"So Lenne was wherever you were last night?" Yuna asked, changing the subject back to the dark-haired girl who seemed infatuated with Tidus.

"Yeah," Tidus said, his eyes leaving Yuna as if he was bored with the conversation.

"So was Elma happy to see you?" Yuna questioned. "According to Lenne, she has a thing for you."

"How much did you talk to Lenne?" Tidus asked, his face showing his disapproval.

"Just a little," Yuna said. "She told me you used to hang out with Elma a lot, and that Elma is head-over-heels in love with you."

"Yeah, she is," Tidus said, letting out a sigh. "But I've made it clear that we're no more than just friends."

Yuna gave him a smile, and said, "You know… I feel bad for her."

"You feel bad for her?" Tidus asked, looking shocked.

"Yeah, I feel bad for her," Yuna repeated herself. "I mean, I couldn't imagine being that in love with you, and not being able to have you. It'd be horrible."

"What, you want me to go to her?" Tidus asked, leaning in toward Yuna with a coy smile on his lips.

"No," Yuna said, laughing. "It's just that I know how it feels. I was kind of in her position last year before we got together. It's a horrible feeling, unrequited love is. And I bet Lenne feels the same way."

At the mention of Lenne, Tidus sat back in his chair and said, "Yeah…"

"So are you going to apologize to Gippal?" Yuna asked then, her eyes glowing as she changed the subject.

"Uh, something like that," Tidus said, smiling. "I'll get on good terms with him again, but I'm not gonna say I'm sorry."

"Tidus…" Yuna said, shaking her head.

"Don't worry about it," Tidus said, smiling a charming smile. "I'm Tidus. I'm loveable."

Yuna just laughed and shook her head. How could he be like that?

"People hate me so much they love me," Tidus said, his smile growing. "Look, I'm gonna go talk to Gippal right now. I'll see you at the game though, 'kay?"

"Okay," Yuna said, smiling.

Tidus stood up then, and Yuna sat back, expecting a kiss or something. There was nothing though, as Tidus simply turned around and walked out, sticking a piece of chew in his mouth as soon as he was out the door.

Yuna simply let out a long sigh and turned back to her hot cocoa. At least Tidus was going to fix things with Gippal.

-

"Gippal?" Tidus said, as he walked into the kitchen, where his friend was sitting, reading a blitzball magazine. "I'm ready to forgive you."

"What?" Gippal said, looking up from the magazine as Tidus took a seat across from him.

"I'm ready to forgive you," Tidus repeated himself, wearing a proud smile.

"Forgive me for what?" Gippal asked, appearing honestly confused.

"Why, for being a jerk of course!" Tidus said, almost happily.

"Whoa there Ti, I—," Gippal started, only to have Tidus silence him by putting his hand out.

"It's okay Gip," Tidus said, his hand still outstretched. "I know you want to apologize, and I understand that you'll get all teary. And we all know that if you get teary, I'll get teary too. So it's okay, no need to apologize. I just wanted you to know that I forgive you."

Gippal gave Tidus a look that was a mixture of annoyance and confusion, but Tidus just smiled.

"You know I'd hug you, buddy," Tidus said, his sweet smile never fading, "but we're men, not girls."

To this, Gippal let out a soft chuckle and turned back to the magazine.

"You're a little dick, you know that?"

"I love you too," Tidus just said, and with a smile, he stood up, and walked out of the room, saying, "I'm glad we managed to patch things up."

Gippal simply let out another chuckle.

"By the way," Tidus said, poking his head back in the doorway, "Yuna found out I chew. She had a fit. What did Rikku say about you?"

"I quit," Gippal said, nonchalantly as he turned the page of his magazine.

"You did not!" Tidus cried all in one quick breath, pronouncing every word.

"I did too," Gippal said in the same intonation as Tidus.

"Did not!" Tidus said, pulling a tin of chew out of his pocket. "Here Gippal have some!" Tidus slowly moved it in front of Gippal's face.

"Knock it off Tidus!" Gippal cried, pushing Tidus' arm away.

"Didn't you just explain to her that it's a team thing?" Tidus asked. "A sport thing? A blitzball thing?"

"It is kind of stupid," Gippal said, shrugging. "I mean, what's the point?"

"The buzz."

"Beer does that to you just fine," Gippal said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, Gippal," Tidus said very slowly, "we're not supposed to drink during the season. Team rules."

"You know no one follows that," Gippal said, shaking his head.

"Well, as assistant captain, maybe you should do something about that?" Tidus asked, shrugging. "I think the team needs more discipline."

Gippal glared at Tidus and said, "Is this more about the whole assistant deal?"

"No, it isn't," Tidus said, shaking his head, his face serious. "Honestly Gip, I think the team needs more discipline. We're so clique-ish. We don't work as a team out there. _That's_ the reason we lost."

"Ti, we didn't lose because of a lack of teamwork," Gippal said, shaking his head.

"No Gip, we really did," Tidus said, taking a seat across from Gippal again. "No one played their positions. We all chased the ball, myself included. It was just 'get the ball, get the ball!' the whole time we were out there."

"So you think that by not drinking and by having more discipline that we'll have more teamwork?" Gippal asked.

"Yeah, 'cause we'll all be in it together," Tidus said, and his eyes went down to the tin of chew in his hand. "And you know, maybe we should all stop chewing, too. Like I said, team discipline."

"That's going too far," Gippal said, shaking his head. "The guys would kill you. They'd kill me too."

"See, no one's willing to do anything," Tidus said, shaking his head. "I don't want to give it up either, you know. I don't want you guys to have to give up beer. But we need to do something."

Gippal drummed his fingers on the magazine, and a frown found its way onto his face.

"Ti, I hate to break this to you and all, but… you're not the assistant captain or the captain. Trust me, Clasko and myself can take care of things just fine."

"Gip," Tidus said, shaking his head, "it's not about that. Really."

"Sure Ti," Gippal said, looking back at the magazine, to show that he wasn't listening any longer.

"Honestly…" Tidus choked out. "So now it's always gonna be about that, huh? I just want what's good for the team! And I really think this would help! Coach isn't disciplining us. You guys aren't disciplining us… It's a lot different in the pros, you know."

"Oh, and you know," Gippal said, turning the page in his magazine without looking up at Tidus, "because you're the big professional. I forgot about that."

"What's your deal?" Tidus cried. "It's the truth! I'm just trying to be helpful!"

"Well, go be helpful somewhere else," Gippal said, giving Tidus and annoyed look. "Because right now, I have more to worry about than team discipline. And besides, I think the team is disciplined enough."

"No we're not!" Tidus said loudly. "We just lost to Kilika for the first time in ten years!"

To this, an unbelieving smile crept onto Gippal's face and his eyes slowly met Tidus'. "Oh, and that's _team_ discipline, is it? More like individual discipline." With that, Gippal grabbed his magazine and started toward the living room.

Tidus stood there, completely dumbfounded.

"Wait, was that directed at _me_?" Tidus finally cried, and he stood up, chasing after Gippal. "Because you know what Gippal? It wasn't just me out there! The other guys were too! We all played dumbly. Not just me!"

Gippal simply ignored him.

"You know, you're just jealous 'cause you know I deserve to be the assistant!" Tidus cried then, loudly.

"Yeah, real jealous," Gippal said, rolling his eyes.

"I'd be waaaay better at it," Tidus said, crossing his arms. "I'm gonna go tell coach that. He'll promote me."

"Yeah right, keep dreaming," Gippal said, his eyes still on the magazine. "And that's not it at all. There's a reason I didn't vote for you, after all."

Tidus' face fell. His mind flashed back to what Datto had said about seeing Gippal's vote.

"You really didn't vote for me?" Tidus coughed, his spit seeming to clog in his throat.

To this, Gippal looked up at Tidus from his magazine and said, "You expect me to believe you voted for me or something?"

"I… I did…" Tidus muttered, shaking his head. With that, Tidus turned on his heel, and grabbed his car keys from the table he had thrown them on.

"Where are you going?" Gippal asked, his face full of shock.

Tidus didn't answer. He simply walked out, slamming the door hard behind him.

**A/N: OMG, can you believe Tidus chews?! BETTER question, can you believe the real number 37 chews? sob Haha... I guess it's a hockey thing. Apparently it's really popular with Canadian hockey players, which is what number 37 is. I kind of like to think of guys from Zanarkand as being similar to guys from Canada for this story's purpose. But yeah...**


	6. Unexpected Nostalgia

I am so, so, so, so, sooooo sorry for the late update! OMG, I am HORRIBLE! Horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE! (Do you get the point? No, I don't think I've done it justice yet…) Horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE, horrible, HoRrIbLe, H O R R I B L E! (Okay, just a few more…) Horrible, horrible, horrible!

Okay then… now that that's out of the way…

Here's chater 6. It's kind of a blah-ish chapter, but it does give you some insight to Tidus and Wakka's relationship. Yes, it's based off of the relationship between the real 37 and this senior from last year. (They are so cute.) And, just in case you were wondering, so is Gippal's and Tidus'. That's between the real 37 and his roommate.

Also, just in case you were wondering, I really don't know the real 37. I met him once. I fell madly in love with him. And now, I spend my time writing this story about his life according to how I think it is. And, since I think in terms of fanfiction, I decided to post it here for your reading pleasure.

And, just because I feel bad, I am sorry for the late update. And, my friend is still here for another week, so… yeah.

But please enjoy!

Chapter 6: Unexpected Nostalgia

"I just feel more and more unwanted," Tidus moaned into the table. "Gippal doesn't want me, Yuna doesn't want me, the guys don't want me, coach doesn't want me…"

"You know that's not true," Elma said, shaking her head at Tidus from across the table. "Besides, they need you."

"I'd rather be wanted than needed," Tidus said, rolling his eyes. "In fact, I think that's what the problem is. I'm _needed_. Do any of the guys really like me? No. But they _need_ me. So they're nice to me."

"That's not true at all," Elma said, shaking her head.

"Whatever, I'm crashing here for a while," Tidus said, laying his head on his arms. "That okay with you and Lucil?"

"Fine with me," Elma said. "And I'm sure Lucil will be alright with that too. But what about your girlfriend? What would she think?"

"Haven't you been listening to me?" Tidus moaned. "I'm pretty sure she hates me."

"Then why are you two still together?"

The question hit Tidus rather hard. He looked up at Elma with a 'huh?' expression spread out across his face. She simply stared at him, her eyes hard on him, as if anxiously awaiting his response.

Tidus quickly regained himself, and he said, "Well, I'm not sure."

Elma simply nodded, as if she understood, but her eyes met the table then, and she said, "So what's up between you and Lenne? I heard what you said to her at the party…"

"Lenne?" Tidus asked, shrugging. "She's just some girl I cheated off of one day."

"You said she was a distraction to you," Elma said. "Is that true?"

Tidus shook his head, and said, "No."

"Then why did you say that to her?" Elma asked, her face twisted in confusion. "I think she thinks that you have a thing for her. I think she wants to undermine your relationship with Yuna."

Tidus laughed and said, "Is she that sinister?"

"No, she's not," Elma said, "but she really likes you."

"Well, I have a girlfriend," Tidus said surely. "Besides, tell her to get in line. She's not the only one."

Elma instantly looked away at Tidus' comment, a slight blush lighting her cheeks. Tidus chose to ignore it, as he always did.

"Lenne," Elma said, composing herself, "is a really great blitzer. She says she's known about you since you were in high school."

"So she's a stalker?"

"No, I wouldn't say that," Elma said. "But I think she's serious about you."

"Again, tell her to get in line," Tidus said. "I feel nothing toward her."

Elma's eyes met the table and she said, "So… do you feel something toward your girlfriend?"

"Well, yeah," Tidus said, shrugging.

"Then why aren't you with her now?" Elma questioned. "How long are you going to be going through this 'rough patch?'"

"I don't know," Tidus mumbled. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been goin' through rough patches with _everybody _I know."

"Which is why you're here?" Elma said.

"Right," Tidus said, brightening. "Lucil and you are like my only friends right now."

"Tidus, Lucil and I were talking to Wakka and Clasko today, and they said that they think this whole deal is in your head."

"Why would I dream this up?" Tidus asked.

"Well, have you talked to Wakka or Clasko lately? They say you pretty much avoid everybody."

"I don't avoid them," Tidus said softly. "It's just that every time I talk to them, I get madder and madder."

"You need to talk to them," Elma said quickly. "Anyway, what time are you going to the game?"

"Shit, my suit's back at Gippal's," Tidus said then, and he banged his head on the table. "I don't want to go back there…"

"Are you going to the game with your girlfriend?" Elma asked, ignoring Tidus' outburst.

"Yeah," Tidus said, looking back up from the table. "I told her I'd go with her. But so many people are going to want to talk to me… I doubt I'll really get to see her."

The door opened then, and in walked Lucil, followed closely by the dark-haired Lenne. Both Elma and Tidus turned to the door, wearing similar expressions of shock.

"Oh, hi Tidus!" Lucil greeted him as she walked into the kitchen. Lenne stayed back for a little while, but eventually followed Lucil into the kitchen, wearing an uncertain expression on her face.

"Hey," Tidus said back, but his eyes met the table again.

"I was just telling Tidus that he needs to talk to Wakka," Elma said. "Don't you think?"

"Definitely!" Lucil said, putting on a wide smile. She took a seat next to Tidus, and Lenne took a seat next to Elma, but like Tidus, Lenne focused her eyes on the table.

"Wakka thinks of you as a little brother," Elma said surely. "He'll clear things up."

"I'm tired of being babied," Tidus said into the table.

"Why?" Lucil and Elma said in unison.

"You never minded before," Lucil then said.

Tidus was silent. He looked up, only to see Lenne's eyes on him. She quickly looked away upon meeting his, though.

"I gotta go," Tidus announced then. "See you guys later."

"Okay, bye," Elma said, giving Tidus what appeared to be a worried smile.

"Bye," Tidus said. He grabbed his coat and started toward the door, and walked out into the crisp air, just in time to hear Elma say softly to Lucil, "I'm worried about him…"

-

Rikku and Gippal were giggling over something or other when Tidus walked into the house, but they immediately stopped as soon as Tidus came into view.

Tidus looked at them quickly, but then rushed past them, and up the stairs, toward his room.

"Ti, wait!" he heard Gippal's voice behind him. Tidus simply ignored him, and darted into his own room, slamming the door behind him.

Tidus locked it, and turned to his suit, which was laid out on his bed, ironed and prepared by Gippal himself.

There was a knock on the door, and Tidus knew without asking that it was Gippal.

"Go away," Tidus yelled as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"I want to apologize," he heard Gippal's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

"I don't want to hear it," Tidus said, as he slipped his dress shirt on, and began to button in quickly.

"Open up," Gippal said, his tone rather annoyed.

"I'm getting dressed," Tidus said, as he grabbed his tie.

"Fine, I'll wait 'til you're done," Gippal said.

Tidus scrunched his nose in disgust, and slipped on his pants, and then his jacket. He didn't even bother glancing at himself in the mirror, and when he opened the door, there stood Gippal, his arms crossed across his chest.

"I don't have time to talk to you," Tidus said, pushing past Gippal.

"Ti, stop being a baby," Gippal said, his voice still full of annoyance.

Tidus stopped in his tracks and let out a low laugh. "Oh, so _now _you want me to stop being a baby?"

"I miss my friend, Tidus," Gippal said, cutting straight to the chase. "I'm sorry I was stupid earlier today. You were trying to apologize, in your own stupid way, and I went and blew it. I don't know what came over me."

"Save it for later," Tidus said. "I have someplace to be."

"Where? With Elma and Lucil?"

"No. I want to go to talk to Wakka."

"About what?" Gippal asked.

"None of your business," Tidus reported, and with that, he shoved his way past Gippal, and down the stairs.

Rikku watched as Tidus grabbed his dress coat, his hat, and rushed out the door, shutting it hard behind him.

Gippal walked down the stairs slowly then, following his friend's path, shaking his head.

"I take it that didn't go over the best?" Rikku questioned, although he seemed uninterested.

Gippal simply didn't answer her.

-

"Hey Wakka, can I talk to you?" Tidus said, his voice coming out softer than he'd expected it to.

"Sure," Wakka said, putting on a smile. "What do you want to talk about?"

The two were in the locker room, where Wakka was sitting, looking over the plays the coach had given him for the game. Tidus was two hours early, but he knew Wakka would be there that early as well.

"We can start by discussing why the hell I'm not gonna be out there tonight," Tidus said, a frown appearing on his lips.

Wakka laughed and patted Tidus hard on the back.

"Coach is just pissed at you. That's all. He can't have a smart-ass on the team."

"You're the biggest smart-ass of all of us, and you're still here, five years later!" Tidus responded to that, a small smile creeping onto his lips.

Wakka laughed, but his smile instantly faded. "Lucil told me you haven't been yourself lately. I guess I've been too busy to notice something's off…"

Tidus' eyes dimmed, and he let out a short sigh.

"Things are just really falling apart lately," Tidus mumbled. "Things with Gippal, things with Yuna, things with the team…"

"I can't help you with Gippal or Yuna," Wakka said, "but what do you mean, things with the team?"

"I don't get along with any of the new Al Bhed recruits," Tidus said, "and I feel like the guys depend on me a lot, you know? And I'm sick of it."

Wakka laughed and said, "Ti, we don't depend on you. You're thinking too much into it now."

"Why aren't things like they were last year at this time?" Tidus asked. "We had so much fun, you know? All of us."

"It's early on… things can change," Wakka said. He let out a sigh then and said, "This goes deeper than you not getting assistant captain, doesn't it?"

Tidus shrugged at this, and said, "I just feel like we're not a team anymore, you know? Gippal and the Al Bheds are always together, the only guys I ever see are Datto and Clasko and you… I don't know… I just feel like nobody gets along like we used to. You know, like last year. We used to play so many pranks."

Wakka laughed and said, "No Tidus, that was just you and me."

Tidus shrugged and said, "I feel like the guys think of me different since I played for Zanarkand that little amount…"

"They've…" Wakka stopped, "No, we've, always been intimidated by you, Tidus. You know that. I know you get sick of it, and I know you're twenty now, but you really were the baby. You were the little guy that tagged along with us, you know? The one we picked on."

"Yeah, I know…" Tidus said. "But is that all I am? And now that I'm not so little, you guys don't need me anymore?"

"It's not that," Wakka said. "Look Tidus, if someone asked me who my favorite guy on the team was, you know I'd say you. You're like my little brudda. I've told you that before, right?"

Tidus nodded.

"You're like everybody's little brudda," Wakka continued. "The little brudda that we all love and want to protect, but at the same time, we're jealous. And Gippal's let his jealousy get the best of him. Besides, don't you think he's a little guilty?"

"Guilty? About what?" Tidus asked.

Wakka bit his lip as if he couldn't decide whether or not to say anything, but he finally said, "The votes, Ti. There were twelve votes for Gippal. Ten for you. If you'd just had one more vote, you'd be tied. You'd both have A's on your chests."

Tidus' face fell.

"So if that son-of-a-bitch had just voted for me…" Tidus said, forming fists. "Or if I'd voted for myself…"

"Don't think of it like that!" Wakka said quickly. "But Gippal feels guilty. He knows he doesn't deserve it. And for Gippal, he thinks the best way to get around his guilt is to just avoid you. Which is why he spends most of his time with the Freshmen."

"Well, it sucks," Tidus said. "It's not fun anymore. Remember when we'd prank each other constantly?"

Wakka laughed. "It was war," he said. "I remember I was interviewed once, and I was asked how I spend my time. And I answered, "Figuring out new ways to make Tidus mad."'

Tidus laughed. He remembered.

"And I finally got you when I stole your clothes while you were in the shower!" Wakka said, laughing loudly. "I've never seen you look so pissed. I thought we were going to go at it right then and there."

"Yeah, Gippal has never looked at me as strange as he did when I went walking up to him butt-naked, asking him if he had spare clothes!" Tidus said, laughing at the memory.

"But you were such a good kid," Wakka said, shaking his head, his smile still large on his face. "You took it, but you dealt it too."

"Yeah, 'member when we teamed up and got Clasko good?"

"Of course I do!" Wakka said, laughing. "We were always good on our own, but when we teamed up, we were unstoppable!"

Without stopping his laughter, Wakka continued, "And I called you Golden Boy, 'cause it made you so mad."

Tidus laughed and said, "Can you blame me? I walked into practice that first day, and I was like three inches shorter than everybody because I hadn't had my growth spurt yet, and you go, "Oh, this must be Golden Boy. He's golden everybody, watch out for him!" and then you all sneered and walked away."

Wakka laughed again, and said, "You were so short! And you had your hair cut so short! Remember that?"

"Shut up!" Tidus cried. "Besides, the girls still dug me."

"Were you even interested in girls?" Wakka cried, laughing hard. "You were eighteen, and had your voice even changed yet?"

"Shut up, it had too!" Tidus cried. "So I was a late bloomer, big deal."

"And then last year," Wakka cried, tears forming in his eyes now because he was laughing so hard, "you were so high-strung! 'Member how Coach always had to bench you because you'd get that mouth of yours running? And you'd sit there, pulling on your sleeve at the other team, to show that you were number thirty-seven, and that they should find you after the game? And remember on autograph night when there were those little kids, all staring at you starry eyed, and you pulled out your pen to sign, only to realize that it was out of ink?"

Tidus laughed. He knew where Wakka was getting at.

"And even though Coach had warned you over and over not to do anything stupid, you cry "SHIT! My pen isn't working!" so loud that your voice echoed throughout the area? All the kids and their moms stood there with their mouths wide open in shock! Letty had to apologize to everybody!"

Tidus laughed and said, "He grabbed my head and gave me a huge noogie, yelling, "Tidus, you can't say that here!"

"And then you just smiled sheepishly and acted like nothing happened," Wakka said, shaking his head.

"And after that, you guys would always run up to me yelling, "Shit, my pen isn't working! For your information, big guy, I stopped swearing after that."

"Yeah right. I hear you out there, dropping the f-bomb. You might as well drop blitzball and become a sailor with that mouth of yours. Oh, and by the way, remember how you blew seventy-five dollars I lent to you on that claw machine at the hotel last year? You still owe that to me…"

"Whatever, that claw machine sucked hard-core. They had that awesome signed Goers jersey in there. If I could have just won it, I could have paid you back when I sold it."

"But you didn't win it, and neither of us could eat the rest of the trip, since you blew all the money."

Tidus laughed, and opened his mouth to say something, but the door to the room opened, and in stepped a few of the sophomores, laughing loudly at something or other. They said 'hi' to Wakka and Tidus, and of course wanted to join in on their discussion.

"I should go," Tidus said as soon as the guys surrounded them. "Thanks Wakka. See you guys later. Good luck tonight."

"What, you're not gonna stay here with us?" Letty, the sophomore (who was, just for the record, two years older than Tidus) that Tidus was closest to asked.

"Nah, I gotta go," Tidus said. With that, Tidus wished the guys luck, and slipped out of the locker room.

-

Tidus did his best to put on a smile. A large group of fans surrounded him, asking him question after question, and telling him that they hoped he had better luck for the rest of the season.

It was tiring, but it was his job. Multiple people came up to him to ask for autographs, pictures, and the occasional phone number request.

After his talk with Wakka, Tidus found that he was feeling better. A reminder from the two seasons long past had really helped to put things in perspective. He was feeling much more like his old self. He even gave Wakka's number to a girl, saying it was his, just as he would have a year before.

He'd managed to talk to Yuna for a little while, but not much. He was always surrounded by fans. She'd smiled understandingly at him though, and the two agreed to meet up after the game, a promise Tidus expected to keep. After all, he didn't need everything going down the drain.

With a smile on his face, Tidus continued to tend to his fans' questions. It was going to be a long night, and every bone in his body wanted to be in the water, playing, but he knew he had to suck it up. He had to just go with the flow.

He was sure things were going to pick up soon.

Or at least, so he hoped.


	7. Unexpected Timing

Again, I apologize for the late update! If it makes you guys feel any better, my friend leaves on Tuesday. --SOB--

Also, I wanted to point out that when I write, I just write. I have maybe one thing in mind when I start to write, and I just go from there. So whatever happens, it's always kind of unconscious. Seriously, it's weird.

Well, anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 7: Unexpected Timing

"Damn." It was the tamest word he could think to say. Many words were floating into his head, but all of them were stronger than the curse he'd just said loudly under his breath. They were all words he couldn't say with the numerous kids who had surrounded themselves around him.

The final buzzer of the game had just gone off, with Bevelle losing one-to-two. It was a close game, but Kilika, who was guessed to be the last-place finisher, had just swept the Bevelle Basilisks.

"Excuse me, kids," Tidus said then, standing up. "I gotta get back to the locker room."

The kids all stared after him, their eyes bright and starry-eyed as he walked quickly up the stairs to the lobby of the arena, his hands in his pockets.

It had been a long game, especially sitting from the sides, staring helplessly into the sphere. Tidus had wanted to sit by Yuna, he honestly had, but he continually found himself trampled by kids and parents alike. So, he spent his time surrounded by little tykes, giving out autographs, and taking pictures.

He rushed into the locker room, not surprised to see the guys all looking rather down. He simply forced a smile and said, "Aw, keep your heads up guys! We got Besaid next weekend. We'll kill 'em!"

Everybody looked at him and shook their heads, their frowns not leaving their faces.

"Take a seat, Tidus," the coach said, sighing over his clipboard.

"Okay…" Tidus said, and he took a seat in front of his locker, next to Gippal, who seemed refusing to look at him.

"So, you'll all be swimming a good fifty laps tomorrow," the coach said, shaking his head. "This is an embarrassment. For the first time in ten years, we've lost to them. For the first time in fifteen, they've swept us. We're on the bottom of the rankings now."

The coach went on and on, and Tidus did his best to listen. After all, it was an embarrassment.

Finally, the team was dismissed. The guys walked out of the locker room slowly, with their heads down. Nobody talked, so Tidus decided to just remain quiet and find Yuna.

"See you guys Monday," Tidus said, and he waved at the guys and turned to the right, toward the lobby of the arena.

Yuna was standing in the lobby with her coat draped in her arms. She smiled upon seeing Tidus, and Tidus found himself smiling back, despite the fact that he wasn't really in the mood to smile.

"What a sucky game, huh?" he asked as he walked up to her.

Yuna just shrugged, and said, "You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

"Surrounded by little kids? Nah, that's just in the job description."

"I thought that was sweet of you," Yuna said, smiling at him, "to hang out with them like that. I'm sure a lot of guys would just ditch them."

Tidus shrugged and said, "Again, it's in the job description. We gotta be nice to our fans, no matter who they are."

"You seem to be in a much better mood than you were earlier," Yuna then mused. "Any reason for the change in mood?"

Tidus smiled and said, "I talked to Wakka. He's a good guy."

"I'm glad he's still around then," Yuna said, smiling back. "I would have argued that Gippal was the only one who could break through your thick skull, but I guess Wakka can too."

"I don't know what's up with Gippal," Tidus said, shaking his head. "But I did some thinking. He's giving up chewing. Maybe that makes him moody?"

To this, Yuna wrinkled her face and she said, "Maybe you shouldn't give that up then. I don't think I could handle you any moodier than you already are."

"Good, 'cause I'm not quitting," Tidus said, smiling widely at her.

"Tidus, it's so bad for you!" Yuna cried.

"You're the one that just said I shouldn't stop!" Tidus cried back at her, his smile still on his lips.

"How about we don't talk about it," Yuna said, flashing him her own smile. "After all, I don't want to put you in a sour mood."

"A sour mood? Me?" Tidus said, laughing. "I'm sorry… It's just that nothing was going according to plan, you know. I wanted it to be last year again so badly."

"It's just the beginning of the season," Yuna said, smiling hopefully. "I'm sure things will get better."

"Let's hope so," Tidus said, as he held the door open for her. "It's just that we used to have so much fun, you know? But now everybody's so… so _old _acting."

"I guess people do grow up," Yuna said, giving him a smile. "And you have to remember that you're one of the youngest guys out there…"

"True, true," Tidus said, and he focused his eyes ahead, as if to show that he was bored with the conversation. Yuna decided to drop it. After all, she didn't want to put Tidus in a bad mood again.

"So, usual place?" Tidus asked as Yuna joined him in his car. He seemed content with ignoring the slews of phone numbers that were plastered over it, for he made no mention of them.

Yuna just nodded. The 'usual place' was the place Tidus had joined Baralai and herself uninvited nearly a year before. Yuna smiled at the memory, but as she read the numbers to herself that gleamed at her in red window-marker, she couldn't help but feel her smile fade.

There were so many girls out there, all after Tidus. Yuna thought about herself, and how she'd felt just about a year ago. She was no different than the girls who wrote their numbers on Tidus' window, praying that he'd write them back. She was no different than them. Well, she was, but only because she was sitting next to him in the car that everybody wanted to ride in.

What made her different than any of those other girls? She thought of Lenne and Elma. They were closer to Tidus than she had initially been. What was to say that they couldn't steal his heart?

"Are you okay?" Tidus asked her then. "If it's about the numbers and stuff, trust me, I don't call them back."

His words didn't make Yuna feel better. In fact, they made her feel worse. He noticed her cringe, for he gave her a quick, confused glance. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

"I'm fine," Yuna answered, deciding that her actions needed some explanation. "It's just that… I know how these girls feel."

"They're just whores," Tidus answered, focusing his attention on the road again, appearing completely uninterested.

"Is that what you thought of me?" Yuna asked. "You just thought I was some whore?"

"No, not you," Tidus said quickly. "I asked you to sleep with me, and you said no. These girls would have all jumped at the chance."

"But I did…" Yuna said, looking at the ground. "I did sleep with you."

Tidus focused his attention straight ahead. He didn't know what Yuna was getting at. It was very, very rare that they ever talked about the days before they officially hooked up. It was as if it was something they had both agreed not to talk about, and now Yuna was bringing it up.

Yuna, noticing that Tidus was unwilling to talk about it, let out a sigh, and said, "It's just not fair that there's not more of you."

To this, Tidus laughed, and he said, "I'm not that great of a guy, Yuna."

His words didn't seem to make sense to Yuna. She stared at him as if he had just said something completely ludicrous, be he paid her no attention. They had arrived at their destination, and Tidus simply put his car in park, turned the car off, and yanked his keys out. Then, he left the vehicle, leaving Yuna still sitting there, staring at where he had just been sitting.

She finally snapped out of her thoughts and jumped out of the car as well, and had to run to catch up with the quickly walking Tidus.

The two were seated immediately despite the fact that the place was busy. A few people cast their attention in Tidus and Yuna's direction, but otherwise they were completely uninterrupted.

"So," Yuna said, deciding that she had to get her mind off of Tidus' words, "Wakka was the one who put you in a better mood?"

"Yeah," Tidus said, looking at the menu, despite the fact that Yuna knew he had it memorized. "He reminded me of all the fun we had and stuff."

"Like what kind of fun?" Yuna asked.

"Just stupid stuff," Tidus said with a shrug. "He gave me shit, I gave him shit. Stuff like that."

"Like what?"

Tidus laughed, and said, "Basically, I was his chosen one to 'pick' on. So he gave me a bunch of crap and stuff, and was surprised that I would deal it back to him. So we had some good times. We pulled a ton of pranks, both on each other and on the other guys."

"I didn't know you and Wakka were close…" Yuna found herself saying. "I always thought it was just you and Gippal…"

"A lot of people think that," Tidus said. "I mean, it's true, Gippal—well, Gippal was my best friend. But we weren't that inseparable. Really, we weren't. You see…" Tidus suddenly blushed, and looked rather sheepishly, "I'm not one for the bar scene. Yeah, I know, surprising, but it's the truth. It does nothing for me. And, since I'm waaaay underage and everybody knows it, it's hard to get into a bar. And when I do, it's really no fun watching everybody else drink. Well, Wakka realized this, so he started hanging out with me. Like a babysitter, kind of."

"That's nice of Wakka," Yuna said, giving him a smile.

"Well, you know how Wakka's a bigger guy?" Tidus said. "It's 'cause he used to drink a lot. And, he got pretty big." Tidus laughed, and said, "He tries to work out and stuff, but… he's just a big guy.

"But," Tidus continued, "I don't want to get big. You know?"

"Right," Yuna said. "I think that's fine that you don't want to drink and stuff..."

"Well, of course you do," Tidus said, "but a lot of the guys aren't okay with that."

"Why not?"

"Because we're a team. We're supposed to do things as a team. So every New Year's eve, the guys go to this bar downtown and get wasted. I'm supposed to go. But I don't."

"Where do you go then?" Yuna questioned.

Tidus shrugged and said, "I go to Lucil and Elma's."

Yuna's face fell at his answer.

"They're really like my best friends," Tidus continued. "Maybe even more than I am with Gippal."

Yuna's face fell even more. Was he telling her that Gippal really wasn't his best friend?

"Usually," Tidus continued yet again, despite the fact that Yuna didn't want to hear it, "I don't even hang out with Gippal during the off-season. Not that much, anyway. Just a little. We go to some games together and stuff, but nothing major. I hang out with the girls and Wakka."

"Wow…" Yuna managed, looking at the table. "So they mean that much to you?"

"Hey, don't get the wrong idea!" Tidus said quickly. "Yeah, they mean a lot to me, but not as anything other than friends! I didn't hang out with them all of last year, you know! Because I was with you."

For some reason, Yuna found herself doubting his words.

"Are you sure it wasn't just because you were in Zanarkand?" Yuna said, her eyes still downcast.

"Yuna," Tidus said, somewhat harshly, "they do mean a lot to me. That's what I'm trying to say. They're like my best friends. But you're my girlfriend. And I swear, Elma and I have never done anything. Yes, I do know that she's in love with me. But really, who isn't? I don't have any feelings for her."

"Lenne said you did sleep with her though!" Yuna argued.

"If I did, I was drunk as hell."

"But you don't like to drink…"

"I didn't say I didn't like to. I just try to keep myself from doing it."

"Why, so you don't sleep with Elma again?"

Her words seemed to slap Tidus in the face, for he sat there, quite taken aback.

"Maybe," he finally said. Then, he lowered his voice and said, "Do you really want to argue right now Yuna? You've been weird all night."

"Because I feel like I don't know you all of a sudden!" Yuna cried. "I thought Gippal was your best friend. Now you're telling me that he wasn't? And you keep contradicting yourself, Tidus! You start by saying that Gippal was your best friend, but not anymore, Wakka hangs out with you when the guys go to the bars, but not on New Year's Eve, and that you didn't sleep with Elma, but yet you did, but it's okay because you were drunk."

Suddenly, Yuna's stomach sank. It sank so low that she was certain that she was sick.

"Wait…" she started, her eyes darting to meet Tidus'. "When did you sleep with Elma?"

"I was drunk," Tidus said. "Hell if I know."

"You must have known," Yuna said. "You keep alluding to the fact that you slept with her."

"It was at the rookie party," Tidus finally said.

"The rookie party?"

"Every year, we have a party for the rookies. Each class has a theme. So the freshman class has to dress up in women's clothing, the sophomores as hicks, the juniors as pimps, and finally the seniors get to dress normally, and do whatever they want."

"Okay, so your rookie year, you had a little too much to drink and slept with Elma?" Yuna said, her eyes on Tidus'.

Tidus stared back, his mouth pressed in a thin line.

Finally, he said, "No. This year."

Yuna shook her head, her lip sticking out in a slight pout.

"This year…" she said, shaking her head, "as in just months ago?"

"Yeah."

"When you were with me."

"Yeah. But you know Yuna, I was drunk."

"Tidus, stop using that stupid excuse!" Yuna cried. "How could you do that?"

"Yuna, I had a lot to drink. I was real happy to see Elma, you know, 'cause she's my best friend and all, and so the two of us hung out, and the next thing I knew…"

"I'm going to go…" Yuna mumbled. She stood up and grabbed her purse.

"Yuna, don't be like this…" Tidus said, his voice very soft. "At least I told you, right?"

Yuna stood motionless for a while, before she finally turned around to face him, and said, "I need to think, okay Tidus?"

"I don't want you to think badly of me…" Tidus said, his face surprisingly blank. "Not right now."

"I'm trying so hard not to," Yuna said, and she had to blink a few times to cover up the tears that were beginning to grow in her eyes. "But you're making it very hard, Tidus. I'll call you later, okay? Bye."

She turned quickly then, and pulled out her cell phone. She was going to have a call a taxi. She walked outside quickly, but stopped when she spotted two giggling girls sticking a note under Tidus' windshield wipers.

It was then that she cried.


	8. Unexpected Change in Position

Ah, finally an update! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but if it makes you guys feel any better, that much time passes in this story! And in other words, my friend is now gone. (And I am so sad!) But, you can _hopefully_ expect more posts!

Please enjoy!

**Chapter 8: Unexpected Change in Position**

"So what did you say to her?" Gippal asked with his mouth full of spaghetti.

"I told her that I might have slept with Elma," Tidus answered, his eyes on the blitz game on the sphere.

Gippal almost spit out his food.

"You are a moron, Tidus."

"Thanks Gip," Tidus just said, as he shoved a forkful of spaghetti into his own mouth, while not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Why would you tell her that?" Gippal said, continuing the discussion despite the fact that Tidus wasn't in the mood to talk about it. "What'd she do, break up with you?"

"I don't know," came Tidus' bland answer. "I haven't talked to her in three weeks."

Gippal almost spit out his food.

"Three weeks? So it's over then."

"I told you, I don't know," Tidus answered.

"Three weeks, Tidus?"

"Yeah. But I've been busy. You know, we had Besaid and Luca. We've been on the road too much. And I'm sure Yuna's been busy too."

"Three weeks is almost a month," Gippal pointed out quickly.

"Yeah, it went by fast, didn't it?" Tidus asked, as he shoved yet another mouthful of spaghetti into his mouth.

"You know Ti, it's your love life and all that, but it's not _that _hard to call someone."

Tidus shrugged. "It's not that important to me."

"So be it then," Gippal said, standing up. "So what have you been up to lately?"

"School," Tidus answered.

Gippal let out a snort and said, "Sure."

"Honestly Gip, ask Datto! We have like three classes together."

"So what's gotten into you?" Gippal asked, shaking his head.

"I'm trying to be more disciplined," Tidus answered as if it was obvious. "Is that a problem?"

"You've been passing more too," Gippal mused.

"I'm being more of a team player," Tidus said, putting on a proud smile.

"Yeah, but Ti, you're fifth in team points. _Fifth_. Last year you were first."

"I still have all season."

"We're already a month into the season," Gippal pointed out, shaking his head. "And this weekend, we've got Zanarkand. You gotta start putting some points up."

"I'm happy with my two goals," Tidus said, leaning back in his chair.

"Datto has more goals than you…" Gippal said, his voice soft.

Tidus' eyes shot to his friend. Datto was leading in team goals, something that was completely unexpected. He had scored six times already in the three games that had been played.

"Well, one of mine was a shorty," Tidus said, leaning back in the cushy couch. "So that should count as two."

"At this time last season, you had three shorties," Gippal said.

"What's your deal?" Tidus cried. "Is it pick on Tidus week or something? First you were on me about Yuna, and now you're on me about my game. What do you want out of me, Gippal? I've been going to class and I've been playing my hardest. What else can I do?"

"I just wanted to make sure everything's okay, that's all," Gippal said, looking taken aback. "I don't want you to be upset over Yuna or anything."

"I'm not upset over her," Tidus said, his tone harsh. "We're still officially together. We just don't have time for each other. I told her I maybe slept with Elma."

"Oh, you slept with her alright…" Gippal said, shaking his head.

"But I didn't necessarily have sex with her!" Tidus cried.

"I wouldn't have told my girlfriend," Gippal said, shaking his head.

"Yuna can see right through me," Tidus said, crossing his arms across his chest. "And besides, she was being weird. I figured she knew something."

"I just don't want you to ruin your shots at the pros or something," Gippal said, giving Tidus a quick side glance, "just because things haven't been going your way."

"Gip, bud," Tidus said, looking at his friend with an annoyed expression spread across his face, "I'm not mad about that stupid A anymore. Okay? I'm just trying to be a nicer guy. Nothing's wrong. Yuna's not that important to me anyway."

"Okay, okay, sorry I asked," Gippal said, putting his arms out defensively. "I just wanted to hear your side of the story, since I've already heard Yuna's."

Tidus almost coughed up his spaghetti.

"Oh yeah?" Tidus demanded. "What did Yuna have to say?"

"Well, I heard it from Rikku, actually, but Yuna seems pretty… okay with everything."

This time, Tidus really did cough up his spaghetti.

"She's _okay_ with the fact that I cheated on her?"

"Apparently," Gippal said, shrugging. "Rikku told me she thinks that Yuna's gone crazy or something. She said that Yuna's been completely different ever since she met you. It's like she's obsessed or something."

Tidus let out a sigh. If Yuna was willing to forgive him, then he knew he had to do something.

"I should call her…" he mumbled. He glanced over at his phone, but didn't feel quite like picking it up. He didn't have to though, for Gippal walked over to it, grabbed it, and tossed it to Tidus.

"By the way," Gippal said, as Tidus caught the phone, "Wakka's your best friend, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Tidus questioned as Gippal started toward the kitchen, gathering both his plate and Tidus'.

"That's what you told Yuna, isn't it? Wakka, Elma, and Lucil. Those three are your best friends."

"You know what I mean, Gip," Tidus said, looking hard at his friend.

"Yeah, yeah," Gippal said. "Don't talk to her too long. We've got practice in twenty minutes."

Gippal walked into the kitchen then, leaving Tidus alone, with his phone in his hands. Finally, Tidus quickly dialed Yuna's number.

Putting on a bored face for reasons unknown to him, Tidus sat in a slouched position as he waited for Yuna to answer. Finally, on about the sixth ring, she answered.

"Hello?" she said, apparently acting as if she didn't know it was him.

"Hey, it's Tidus," Tidus said, playing along despite the fact that he knew she knew it was him. Every cell phone displayed the name, after all.

"Oh, hey," Yuna said, rather casually. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good," Tidus said, biting his lip. What was he going to say? Playing it cool, he decided to say, "Uh, we're playing Zanarkand this weekend at home. Are you coming?"

It took Yuna a little while to respond, but she finally said, "Of course."

"We should win," Tidus said, finding himself happy to talk about the game versus anything else. "It should be a good series."

"I'm looking forward to it," came Yuna's generic answer.

"A-At practice today," Tidus said then, quickly, for he didn't want the subject to change to anything other than blitz, "Coach told me he was going to try something new out with me. I don't know what it is yet, but it should be pretty cool. I'm looking forward to it."

"Good," Yuna said, and although Tidus couldn't see, he hoped that she was smiling.

"So yeah," Tidus said then, finding that he couldn't think of anything else really to say. He closed his eyes quickly, reminding himself that the conversation wasn't supposed to be awkward. Yuna was still his girlfriend, as far as he knew.

"So wanna go eat after the game?" Tidus asked then, forcing himself to sound brighter.

"Sure," came Yuna's expected response.

"Okay. Well, I have a lot of homework…" Tidus said, although in truth, the game had just come back on, "so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay," Yuna answered. "Bye Tidus."

"Bye."

Tidus clicked his phone shut, feeling rather satisfied with himself. His lips turned into a smile, and he leaned back, letting his phone slide down onto the ground.

"I am Yevon," he declared, as he focused his attention on the game.

"You're a spoiled brat," he heard Gippal say from the kitchen.

"Yevon could have been a spoiled brat too," Tidus said, his satisfied smile not disappearing from his lips.

-

"Alright guys, there's going to be a change in the lineup," the coach's voice boomed as he walked into the locker room.

The guys all looked up at him, just in time to see him walk over to the whiteboard. Wakka followed, with his clip board in his hands.

"Datto, I'm taking you off center," the coach said, "and moving you to left wing."

"Woah, so I'm on Clasko's line now?" Tidus found himself saying, since _his _position was left wing.

The coach gave Tidus an annoyed look, which of course caused Tidus to lean back and mutter, "Sorry, Coach…"

"No, I'm going to move you to center, Tidus," the coach said then.

"What?" Tidus cried. "Center? I've never played center in my life!"

"Well, we're trying it out today," the coach said. "Alright boys, get out there."

"Left wing?" Datto said, turning toward Tidus with his face full of confusion. "I don't know the first thing about left wing!"

"And we've got Zanarkand this weekend," Tidus said under his breath.

"Hey, it could work out," Gippal said, coming up from behind the two. "Besides, what could it hurt? Our face-off percentage is like ten percent."

"Datto here just needs to learn how to catch a ball, that's all," Tidus said, patting his line mate on the head.

"Hey!" Datto said, but Tidus just laughed and ran off toward the sphere.

"How hard can center be anyway?" Tidus cried back, and then he jumped into the sphere.

-

"Coach moved me to center, and I rocked!" Tidus cried ecstatically into the phone as he drove home from practice. Gippal was sitting next to him, nodding along with Tidus, despite the fact that Tidus wasn't talking to him.

Tidus was talking to Yuna, who he found himself calling as soon as he got out of practice. He'd managed in his euphoria over the new position that he wasn't exactly on the greatest terms with Yuna, and had called her right up to tell her the news.

"I won forty-nine out of fifty face-offs today!" Tidus continued. "Coach said I could even beat the school's record! And Datto doesn't play too bad of a left-wing! I don't know why I never realized sooner that I was a natural-born center!"

"Hey now, don't get too cocky!" Gippal warned, but he wore a smile.

"This is the best thing that's happened to me all season!" Tidus continued into the phone. "Wait 'till you see me, Yuna! It's so awesome!"

Yuna's light laughter could be heard from Tidus' phone, along with her voice, which said, "Well, I'm looking forward to it."

"Two days away," Tidus said in a sing-song voice. Gippal smiled at him from his side, happy to see his friend in a much better mood.

"Dude, I'm getting a hat-trick!" Tidus continued into the phone, and Gippal had to grab the wheel, for Tidus threw his arms up in the air as if he'd just scored the three goals that he'd just proclaimed he was going to score. "I'm gonna take over the lead in points!"

"Well, I wish you luck," Yuna said.

"Thanks," Tidus said. "You might as well wear that jersey of mine and everything, 'cause this game is going to be beyond awesome."

Yuna laughed, and said, "We'll see."

"I promise Yuna," Tidus said, just as he pulled into his driveway, "this weekend is gonna be the best weekend in a long time."

-

"Finally, finally, finally!" Tidus cried loudly as he walked into the locker room. He threw his gear bag down so that it crushed into his locker, and he high-fived a couple of the sophomores on the team.

"Good day?" one of the guys asked him, shaking their head at his actions.

"You know it!" Tidus cried. "We are going to cream Zanarkand's asses! They may have put us out of the play-offs last year, but we're coming out on top this year!"

"Not to mention Tidus has a big date after the game," Gippal said, as he calmly opened his locker and put his bag inside of it.

"Oooh," the guys all said in unison.

"It's not a big deal," Tidus said, giving them all a smirk. "Right now, she's not even on my mind. I'm just gonna score, and score, and score! Nothing's bringing me down!"

The rest of the guys piled into the locker room, and the guys then dispersed to do their warm up laps.

When they returned to the locker room, Wakka pulled Tidus aside.

"I heard you were gettin' a big head," Wakka said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Who told you that? Gippal?" Tidus asked, giving Wakka a smirk in return. "My head's no bigger than it's ever been."

"Keep your cool," Wakka ordered. "Center's not about scoring. It's about making the play. Coach thinks you'd be the best at it, and I agree with him. But don't go doing anything stupid."

"Dude, relax," Tidus said, his smirk disappearing. "I'm not going to do anything stupid. Trust me, I don't want to sit again."

"I know it's been a trying season for you," Wakka continued, "but you just gotta keep your head. I have faith in you."

Tidus rolled his eyes and said, "When'd you go and get all mature on me?"

"I'm like your coach now," Wakka said, patting Tidus on the head. "You're 'baby' tactics don't work against me anymore. Not get out there."

Tidus gave him a thumbs-up, and another smirk, and hopped off toward the sphere to join his teammates, who were already warming up.

Tidus went about his usual warm-up routine, which included shooting the ball a few times, stretching for a good ten minutes (he stretched the longest out of anybody on the team), and assisting with the passing drill, along with Gippal, who passed from the other side of the net.

He spotted Yuna in the crowd next to Rikku, who, unlike Yuna, was wearing Gippal's jersey, an away jersey that he'd given to her. Tidus just smiled, telling himself that someday he would get Yuna to wear that jersey.

"Feeling confident?" Datto asked Tidus as they walked back to the locker room.

Tidus poured some water into his mouth and nodded. "You?" he asked as soon as he swallowed.

"Hey, as long as you are, then I am," Datto said, giving Tidus a smile.

"We'll be fine," Tidus said surely.

When the guys went back into the sphere, Tidus noticed immediately that the stands had filled up nearly entirely since warm-ups. He quickly took his eyes away from them though, reminding himself that he couldn't get distracted. No matter what, he couldn't get distracted. He had to make that hat-trick, after all.

The announcer then announced the starting lines for both teams, the Basilisks of course starting with Tidus' line. The crowd cheered loudly upon hearing that Tidus would be playing center. Tidus swam out to the center line with a smirk on his face. It felt good to bask in the glory yet again.

Zanarkand's center crossed his arms and smirked at Tidus, to which Tidus gave a shrug, and his own smirk grew more challenging. More than anything, he wanted to beat Zanarkand.

"And now," the announcer's voice could be heard clearly, even inside of the sphere pool, "please remove all headwear and stand for the national anthem! Singing for us tonight is the Basilisks' Women's blitzball team's newest star, Lenne!"

_Lenne_

Tidus turned around to see Lenne standing on the podium just above him, with the microphone in front of her.

She took a deep breath then, and began to sing.

Tidus found himself somewhat taken aback at how well she sang. Usually he paid no attention to the national anthem. In fact, he usually found himself tilting his head down, visualizing his moves for the game. It was almost as if he turned the three minutes it took to sing the anthem into a meditating time, something he actually rather looked forward to. For now though, he couldn't focus on anything. All he could focus on was Lenne's surprisingly suave voice. It was perfect.

Everybody seemed to be entranced, for Tidus noticed that his teammates and the Zanarkand team were all staring with their mouths agape as Lenne sang.

Lenne finished, took a step back, and bit her lip nervously. The arena was completely silenced, something that was incredibly rare, as the crowd was usually cheering loudly by this time.

To Tidus' utmost shock though, Lenne suddenly dipped quickly toward the microphone, and said, "Tidus, I love you." It was barely audible though, for the crowd seemed to pick itself back up, and they began to cheer.

Tidus gave her a shocked look, but she was already gone, disappearing out of his view.


	9. Unexpected Return

I think this chapter might be my shortest chapter yet, but I think you guys will like it. It took me an awful long time to write it! I started on Sunday, and am just now finishing it! Well, I am working on a short story for a contest (which is my baby right now… poor number 37!) right now that's taking up a lot of my excess creativity. But no worries, I am determined to finish this story!

Also, thank you for all of the reviews! At one point, I had 37, which, I'm sure you can imagine, made me pretty happy! But, I'm always glad to have more, so I wasn't sad when the count moved up. But yeah, thank you! They are a great motivator, I'm not going to lie!

Alright, without further ado, enjoy!

**Chapter 9: Unexpected Return**

Tidus found himself blinking a few times. Surely he'd imagined that?

Of course, when Datto prodded him in the side with a smile on his face, Tidus figured he hadn't just been imagining it. Datto confirmed this when he said, "She the one you have the hot date with?" Zanarkand's center and his line mates laughed, and swam toward their goal post.

"Come on," Tidus heard Gippal's voice at his side. Tidus shook his head a few times, and then swam toward his own goal post. The team circled up, Clasko said a quick speech about remembering everything they'd worked on in practice, and with a final cheer of "Basilisks!", the guys dispersed.

Tidus took his post at the center. He nodded at Datto and Letty, the sophomore who was playing right wing. The Zanarkand center looked at him challengingly, but Tidus just did his best to focus on his task ahead.

The music was playing loudly outside of the sphere, and Tidus found himself having difficulty with tuning it out. His stomach churned nervously, something that he couldn't ever recall happening in a game before.

He didn't have any more time to ponder on this strangeness, for the light for the blitz off went off, and the ball flew upwards in the water.

-

"Did you hear that?" Yuna managed to cough out as soon as she came to her senses, which was indeed a good five minutes after Lenne's announcement to the arena.

"Hear what?" Rikku said, craning her neck to see past the people in front of her.

"Lenne!" Yuna cried.

"Yevon can she sing!" Rikku just said, and then she scrunched her nose to Yuna and said, "Tidus just won that face-off, only to lose the ball! What is he doing?"

Yuna instantly turned her attention to the sphere pool as well, just in time to watch Tidus get a holding call.

"What'd he do that for?" Rikku cried loudly, as the crowd began to boo. Tidus had his arms out as if to say 'what?', but the ref simply pulled him toward the penalty box.

"Rikku," Yuna said, ignoring Tidus' actions for the moment. "Didn't you hear what Lenne said when she finished?"

Rikku stared at her blankly, and then shrugged.

"She said "I love you" to Tidus."

"You're imagining things," Rikku said quickly.

"I don't think I did," Yuna said. "I'm sure she said it. Didn't you see Tidus? He looked up at her. I think he heard it too."

"Well, he's sitting in the box now," Rikku said, pointing to Tidus, who was getting badgered by some Zanarkand fans.

Yuna looked at him, and saw him looking up at the three college-aged kids in Zanarkand jerseys who were obviously teasing him. He was drinking from the water bottle that was in the penalty box, and he then pretended to squirt the bottle at the Zanarkand fans, which caused them to let out what must have been squeals.

"He's way too happy to be in there," Rikku said, as she too was watching Tidus. "How can he joke around at a time like this?"

Yuna found herself staring at her cousin in disbelief. Had Rikku really not heard Lenne's words. Nibbling softly on her lip, Yuna began to wonder if she was acting too paranoid. She knew things between Tidus and herself were incredibly rocky, but she was hoping that things would get back to normal, especially after Tidus' ecstatic behavior over his new position.

She then found her eyes skimming the crowd for Lenne. Where was Lenne?

"Yunie, watch the game," Rikku said, sounding annoyed at her cousin's behavior.

Yuna gave Rikku a shocked look, but turned her eyes to the game. She couldn't get Lenne off of her mind. She found herself glancing at Tidus as he sat there in that box, staring into the sphere with an angry look spread out across his face.

She knew she couldn't stay focused on an entire game. She just hoped Tidus could.

-

"Tidus, what was with that bull shit penalty?" the coach roared as soon as Tidus was back in the box.

Tidus grabbed the water that was in front of him, and shook his head.

"Sorry Coach," he managed after swallowing the large stream of water he'd just dumped into his mouth. "It won't happen again."

"It better not," the coach said, shaking his head as he started pacing again. "We need you on the penalty kills, not in the box."

"Right," Tidus said. He took a few deep breaths. His team had managed to kill off his penalty, and the score was still tied with each team having zero points.

He had to get focused. It was stupid of him to grab the Zanarkand player's jersey in his hand the way he had, but he wasn't going to deny that he was desperate. How had he managed to lose the ball like that?

The coach patted him hard on the back then, signaling that it was his time to go off. Tidus stood up and waited for the line before him to reach the bench, and then he jumped off in a flash, swimming quickly into position.

Zanarkand's center caught the ball on a long pass, and Tidus smiled, for he was in range of tackling.

Tidus hurled himself at the player, and grabbed the ball. He gave the player a quick extra shove, and then swam off toward Zanarkand's goal post, the smile still on his face.

He saw Letty swimming ahead of him out of the corner of his eye, and quickly passed the ball to him. Then, he got in position, right in front of the net.

To his surprise, Letty passed it to Datto, Datto passed it back to Letty, and with a quick kick, Letty scored.

Datto and the two defensemen quickly swam up to Letty for their after-goal group hug, but Tidus found himself sitting there, still in front of the net, blinking a few times. Shouldn't they have at least passed it to him?

_"Oh well,"_ Tidus thought to himself as he joined in the group hug to congratulate his teammate's goal, _"at least I should be getting credited with the assist."_

Tidus went back to the bench did, and the coach quickly patted them all on the back as they took a seat. Tidus grabbed the water bottle again, and dumped the water down his throat with a satisfied smile on his face.

_"Scoring for the Basilisks…" _the announcer began, _"__Letty__! Assisted by __Datto__."_

"And Tidus," Tidus found himself saying. "Right? And Tidus!"

"Not technically, man," Letty said at Tidus' left.

Datto shrugged at Tidus' right.

"That's shit," Tidus finally said, and he leaned back and dumped more water down his throat.

"Welcome to center," the coach said behind them.

"Huh?" Tidus cried.

"You're a play-maker now," Datto explained. "Not a scorer."

"Not that you can't still score…" Letty mused.

"I gotta get a hat trick," Tidus said, finding himself looking toward where Yuna was sitting.

"For that Lenne girl?" Letty asked, prodding Tidus in the side.

"No, for my _girlfriend_," Tidus said, stressing the word.

"Oh, you're still with her?" Letty looked shocked.

"If you three don't focus on this game, I'm benchin' all of ya!" the coach's voice suddenly roared.

"Sorry Coach," the three of them just said in unison.

-

Tidus' eyes were on his plate, where they'd been for a good five minutes. Of course, Yuna wasn't really saying much either.

She picked gingerly at the pieces of broccoli that were on her plate, wondering what had Tidus so down. She had hoped that dinner wouldn't be awkward, but Tidus was making things impossible.

"I didn't score once," Tidus finally mumbled. "I didn't even get an assist. I won every damn face-off, and I still didn't even score!"

"But at least you guys won!" Yuna said, forcing a warm smile onto her lips. "That's what's most important, right? And besides, you guys still have tomorrow! You could score then!"

"You don't get it," Tidus said, shaking his head, his hair still damp from the after-game shower. "It's like I'm out of position all the time. I'm making these excellent plays—all three of our goals came from me, you know—but I'm not getting any credit."

"You'll get credit!" Yuna said.

"No. I didn't even get a star of the game award! It was ridiculous."

"Again, at least you won," Yuna stressed.

"The Abes want me as a winger, not a center," Tidus said, crossing is arms and leaning back in his seat.

"But Tidus, it's not all about scoring, is it?" Yuna asked.

"It's the principle of the matter, Yuna," Tidus said, sounding very serious. "Last year, I led the team with points. I had so many goals. And this year, I'm way down at like fifth or sixth place."

"That's not a big deal," Yuna said. "Everybody still loves you, right?"

Tidus snorted, and said, "Too many people love me."

Yuna felt her face fall, and she fell backwards into her chair. Too many people did love him.

"Did you hear what Lenne said?" Yuna finally managed to ask, her voice quivering slightly, for reasons unknown to her.

Tidus looked at her with a shocked expression on his face, and he said, "Yeah, I did hear."

"She must be very serious," Yuna said, letting out a sigh. "It must have taken a lot of courage to say that like she did."

"She's stupid," Tidus said. "I told her to stop distracting me."

"When did you see her?" Yuna asked, her voice sounding hurt almost.

"A long time ago," Tidus said, shrugging. "She hangs out with Elma and Lucil and them, you know. But I haven't seen them either for a while. I'm over them."

"If they're your friends…" Yuna started, but Tidus interrupted her.

"Were my friends, Yuna. They were my friends. I can't have them in the way anymore. They're just a distraction."

"Tidus," Yuna said, finding her voice surprisingly easily, "if they're your friends then…" Again, she was cut off by Tidus.

"I can't have distractions!" Tidus said. "I'm distracted enough by stupid school. I'm so sick of it, you know! I hate it. Hate it, hate it, hate it!"

"Why are they so distracting?" Yuna asked, wondering if he was purposely trying to change the subject.

Tidus gave Yuna a look of surprise as if to say that he couldn't believe she was asking these questions. Of course, she'd backed him right into the corner. What was he supposed to tell his girlfriend? That three girls had him utterly distracted for reasons quite unknown to him?

"They're distracting…" Tidus started, "Uh, because they just are."

"Am I distracting?" Yuna asked then, looking away from him.

"Don't do this to me, Yuna," Tidus said, leaning his head into his hands.

"Don't do what to you?" Yuna said. "I'm serious, Tidus! I don't want to distract you from your game! It's your number one priority, isn't it?"

"Yes and no," Tidus answered. "Look Yuna, can we just have a nice dinner? A nice, typical dinner? Forget about Elma and Lenne? I've forgotten about them! They mean nothing to me."

Yuna closed her eyes, and she nodded.

"I'm sorry for bringing them up," she said, sighing.

"Don't be sorry," Tidus said. "Just don't bring them up anymore. Thinking about them gives me a headache."

"Oh?"

"See, you're so suspicious of me!" Tidus cried. "I'm sorry things got out of hand with Elma, okay? And Lenne seriously means nothing to me! She's pretty, yeah. But you're prettier. I don't want to be with her, Yuna. I just… you know, can't help but think about… well, you know, it's a guy thing."

"Right, a guy thing," Yuna said. "I overheard something that's kind of bothering me…"

"What now?" Tidus said, and he didn't remove his head from his hands.

"I overheard Letty when I was waiting for you. He was talking to a freshman, I think, and he was saying that he was shocked that you were still with me.""Don't listen to him…" Tidus said, shaking his head, but Yuna continued anyway.

"He said that he couldn't believe you had a girlfriend, since you could have any girl you wanted. He was laughing and saying that you could have a different girl a night if you wanted. That's why he couldn't understand why you would have a girlfriend."

"Yuna, dear," Tidus said then, rolling his eyes, "I'm not like that. You're really going to believe some shit that Letty made up?"

"Well…"

"Yuna, I swear to Yevon, yeah, my mind wanders. But I'm over them. All of them. All of those girls. I only want you, Yuna. You just have to believe me. And when I do something stupid, I probably deserve to get dumped. I really do. But I'm trying so hard. You have no idea how hard I'm trying. It's tempting, okay? I get numbers _all the time_. Constantly. I have girls throwing themselves at me _constantly_. You don't even know, Yuna. And all I am is some college blitzer. That's all. I'm not a celebrity or anything. But I'm trying. You have to believe me."

Yuna forced a smile, and she said, "I do believe you. Honestly, I do. I just don't want to be a distraction. I know you have a lot on your mind these days."

"Well then, let's just forget about everything that's happened this season, okay?" Tidus said, a smile prying on his lips. He was leaning forward across the table, almost excitedly, his blue eyes seeming surprisingly bright, perhaps the brightest they'd been since the new blitzball season had started.

"Okay," Yuna said, a smile prying on her own lips.

"And," Tidus said, his smile growing wider, "wear my jersey, okay? You're my girlfriend, after all."

"I didn't know that was the thing to do," Yuna admitted, although her tone was rather amused.

"It doesn't matter," Tidus said, leaning closer to her. "You're not just dating any ol' college blitz player. You're dating Tidus, the legendary college blitz player."

"I thought you were trying to be less boastful," Yuna said, her smile teasing.

"I am," Tidus just said with a laugh. "I'm trying so hard, Yuna."

"Stop trying so hard then," Yuna said. "You have enough to worry about."

"Like my Intro. to Sport Management test on Monday," Tidus said, a short laugh erupting from him. "Right?"

"Right," Yuna said.

"Normal college stuff like that," Tidus continued.

"Right," Yuna said, laughing as well.

Tidus took that as his initiative. Leaning completely forward and standing slightly, he pressed his lips onto hers, not caring that people throughout the restaurant were staring at them.

After all, he was just a normal college student.

**A/N: Okay, I'm not going to lie, the reason this story was so hard to write because I wanted a fluffy ending. And these days, I CANNOT write fluff! And with this story, it really, truly is impossible to write fluff. Because, I'm currently a little sad about my real-life 37, being that he might be leaving for the pros after this year, and the year is almost over… and you know, I haven't talked to him in ****sooooo**** long. It's really hard. So the idea of ****Yuna**** having happy times makes me jealous. But I finally got over it! ****Haha**** I hope you enjoyed!**


	10. Unexpected Outburst

Once again, I apologize for the long wait! School's been pretty intense, and inspiration's been down. BUT, I got some over the weekend, as I went to a girl's hockey game and saw a certain someone there. (Although, let me tell you, the events in the chapter, and the events at the game I went to are **far** from similar! Ha! (Ooh, am I making you excited to read this chapter?!))

I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It's definitely one of my favorites so far! And, it's one of the longest ones I've had in a while! Yay!

Also, as an added bonus, I've decided to add a little present at the bottom, after the story! It's something I've wanted to do for a while now…

Anyway, enjoy!

**Chapter 10: Unexpected Outburst**

"Hey Gippal, should I join a fraternity?" Tidus said, as he grabbed a handful of potato chips and shoved them into his mouth. "Wouldn't that be fun?" he continued with his mouth full.

"A frat? What the hell has gotten into you?" Gippal said, as he too grabbed a handful of chips.

"I want to have a normal college experience for my last year," Tidus said, smiling, despite the fact that his teeth were covered in chips.

"Playing blitz is the ultimate college experience," Gippal said, shaking his head. "It's living the dream, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Tidus said, "but I've been doing some thinking, and I think people take it too far. I just wanna be normal."

"You'll never be normal," Gippal said, laughing as he grabbed another handful of chips.

"Should I travel abroad?"

Gippal snorted. "To where, Besaid? They could use you on their team, though. They suck ass."

"No, I need something more exotic," Tidus said, his eyes shining.

Gippal laughed and said, "Venture into Al Bhed territory. Now _there's _exotic for you."

"Yeah right," Tidus said, shaking his head. "Don't you remember freshman year when I went back with you over winter break? They were all ready to eat my head off or something…"

"Uh, yeah, because you single-handedly ruined an entire air ship."

"So I was a little klutzy…"

"_A little_?"

"I was a late bloomer."

"I remember wondering how the hell you could be so klutzy, but then in the blitz pool, you were unstoppable."

"Yeah, well, you know," Tidus said, shrugging. "Hey, by the way, did Coach say he was gonna put you in again?"

"Well, after we swept Zanarkand last weekend, he said he might give me a chance. But we're playing Luca next, so who knows."

"They're gonna be tough this year," Tidus said, nodding slowly.

"Yeah," Gippal said, agreeing. "Hey, what are you doing this weekend? It's our first bye week of the season. You gonna spend the whole thing with Yuna?"

"I don't know," Tidus said, shrugging. "I hadn't thought on it. What are you doing?"

"There's a party I might hit up, but since you don't party, I figured you'd be with Yuna."

"I really haven't thought about it," Tidus admitted. "I've been too busy looking into joining a frat."

"You're crazy," Gippal said. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"I am, you know it," Tidus said, crinkling the advertisement for a fraternity that he had been looking at. "I forgot that we had a bye week this week. What are we gonna do?"

"I told you, I'm off to a party," Gippal said.

"Right, I'm going to call Yuna," Tidus said. "If I was gonna be here next year, we'd live it up, you know."

"Yeah, too bad you won't be around," Gippal said, laughing. "We really would have the time of our lives. You know, we could… if you weren't so afraid of getting an underage."

"Dude, you're the one who always told me I couldn't get an underage," Tidus said.

"And you were the one who was just saying a few weeks ago that we shouldn't drink," Gippal pointed out.

"Gip, you know my theory on it. We need more discipline! Besides, drinking is overrated."

Gippal laughed. "You could still go to the party. You don't _have _to drink."

"I don't like parties," Tidus said, sighing.

"I know you don't," Gippal said. "So call Yuna up."

"Don't you think that's weird?" Tidus asked.

"Yeah, but you've always been an oddball."

"Hey, the girls are playing this weekend!" Tidus said, his eyes lighting. "I'll go watch them play!"

To this, Gippal laughed.

"It's always about blitzball, isn't it?"

"It's all I know," Tidus said quickly.

"So you're not going to call Yuna?"

"Yeah, I might," Tidus said, shrugging. "We could hang out Saturday."

"Take her to the girls' game."

Tidus smiled, but his smile instantly disappeared.

"Yuna doesn't like the girls."

"Well, that Lenne is hot after you," Gippal said, laughing. "Too bad she's a year too late, huh?"

"Yeah, she's different," Tidus said, shaking his head. "But Elma and Lucil would be sad if I didn't go."

"Ti, take it from me: don't go to the game. Go someplace with Yuna."

"Wakka and Clasko might go to the game with me…" Tidus mumbled, ignoring Gippal's comment.

"Tidus…"

"Gippal," Tidus said quickly, "I'm not going to do anything with the girls. I just wanna see a blitzball game. Is that too much to ask for?"

"Go to a high school game," Gippal said, rolling his eyes. "_Or_, invite Yuna. One of the two."

Tidus rolled his eyes at his friend and turned around in his chair, pulling out his cell phone as he did so.

"Hey Clasko," he said after just seconds of silence, "you goin' to the girls' game this weekend? Yeah, me too."

-

"Hey man, I didn't think you would show!" Clasko said, high-fiving Tidus as he walked in the door of the small, cold blitzball arena, which served as the arena that the Basilisks sometimes practiced at, and the home of the girls' blitzball team.

"Dude, what fun is a weekend without blitz?" Tidus just said, laughing.

"Yeah, but when was the last girls' game you went to?" Clasko asked as the two started up the stairs to the pool that the girls' game was at. It was a smaller sphere, and there was much less seating. The girls' games didn't exactly pull in the crowd that the guys' games did.

"It's been a while," Tidus admitted. The two walked quickly in, ignoring the stares that they got as they passed. The only time Tidus ever truly felt annoyed with the attention that people gave him was when he wasn't playing blitzball. Especially when he was trying to do something normal, or when he was just trying to enjoy his weekend off. He found himself hoping that no one made a big deal out of him being at the girls' game. They didn't usually, but Clasko was right, it had been a while since he'd been to one of the girls' games.

The two took their usual seats in the corner of the nicer area of the arena, where chairs had been set up for viewers to sit in. The other option was to sit in the bleachers, which, were they normal women's college blitzball fans, they probably would have sat out there. The corner where they sat at was quieter, and there was much less people, which of course meant less people to bother them. Tidus even sat in the very corner, so that he was blocked by the window to the people in the bleacher. He wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"Hey, there's Wakka!" Tidus said then, as he saw Wakka swim out to set up one of the goals. "What's he doing out there?"

"He's doing a graduate program with the women's team too, Tidus," Clasko said, shaking his head. "Where've you been?"

"Not here, obviously," Tidus said, shaking his head. "It's been a rough season."

"Yeah, you've been spacey lately," Clasko said, shaking his head. "What's up? Girl problems or something?"

"Kind of," Tidus found himself admitting. "Like right now, I should probably be with my girlfriend."

"Right, I keep forgetting you have a girlfriend," Clasko said. "Gippal too. You guys haven't been the same since you hooked up."

"Yeah, things were more fun before," Tidus said. "But Gip's trying to give up dip. I think that's why he's so annoying lately."

"He giving it up for the girl?"

"Yeah. Now _there's_ something I'd never do. No girl is worth it."

To this, Clasko laughed.

"So tell me then, Tidus," Clasko said, looking at Tidus from the corners of his eyes, "what's this girl got? She _that _good in bed?"

"Dude, it's not even about that," Tidus said, making a scoffing sound. "Last year I… I don't know. Things were good, you know. I was on top of the world, and maybe I thought I needed a girlfriend or something?"

"But now you're having second thoughts?" Clasko asked, still eying Tidus from the corners of his eyes.

Tidus licked his lips and leaned forward. The girls were just coming out for warm-ups, and Tidus saw Elma and Lucil swim quickly out, and eventually, Lenne as well.

"It's not that I don't like Yuna," Tidus said. "It's just that… there's a lot of temptation out there."

"Definitely," Clasko said, laughing. "I don't get the girls like you do, and even _I _know what you mean about temptation. So how many times have you cheated on her?"

"I don't know," Tidus said. "Things got crazy at the rookie party this year…"

Clasko laughed loudly, and said, "I'll say. Those freshman are _wild_ this year."

"Yeah," Tidus agreed. "But I don't know what happened. I'm a light-weight."

"That's the truth," Clasko said. "Remember that first party we went to this year? You had what, five beers? And you were _out _of it. Say, didn't some girl crawl right onto your lap and start making out with you then?"

Tidus looked thoughtful, and then he let out a soft chuckle and said, "Yeah. But it didn't leave that couch. That doesn't count as cheating, does it?"

"Nah, it doesn't," Clasko said. "Especially not for you."

"Right, I can bend the rules," Tidus said. Although he'd meant his words to be funny, he found that he couldn't laugh. It was too true. Creepily and disgustingly true.

"It's just that," Tidus continued, "I think Yuna probably deserves better. But what can I do? I can't help it."

"Either that," Clasko said, narrowing his eyes knowingly at Tidus, "or you have your eye on someone else. Who is it, Tidus?"

Tidus rolled his eyes and said, "I don't have my eye on anybody, Clasko."

As if seeing that Tidus wanted to change the subject, Clasko said, "So, Datto said you've been going to a lot of your classes. That's unlike you."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" Tidus just said. He was starting to wish he'd asked anybody but Clasko to go to the game with him. Finally, though, Tidus found himself sighing loudly, and he said, "It's just that she's so effing distant these days!"

Clasko gave Tidus a shocked look, and then he laughed and said, "Did you just say "effing?"'

"I'm trying not to swear," Tidus said, giving Clasko a glare. "What other word can I use?"

"I don't know…" Clasko answered. "Friggin'. Frickin'. Fudgin'."

"I like effing."

"Anyway, what?" Clasko finally said, shaking his head. "She's distant?"

"Yeah, and she knows. You know, she knows I'm not the most innocent guy in this relationship. Although, you know, I think people automatically assume untrue stuff about me."

"Yeah, that's probably true," Clasko said, nodding. "How many times did you sleep with a girl in, say your sophomore year?"

"Maybe five before I hooked up with her," Tidus said. "Not counting summer, right?"

"Right," Clasko said.

"Yeah, five."

"Five?"

"Five… five that I can remember," Tidus said. "Why am I telling you that anyway?"

Clasko laughed and said, "Well, the typical person probably thinks you're way more promiscuous than that."

"Exactly," Tidus agreed.

The girls were preparing to begin then, and the door to the inside area opened, and in stepped Wakka.

"Hey guys!" he greeted them. "I didn't know you were comin'!"

"What else would we be doing?" Clasko asked.

"Partying with the rest of the guys?" Wakka just said, taking a seat next to Clasko. "So what's up?"

"Not much," Clasko said, and he laughed. "Tidus is filling me in on his love life."

Wakka chuckled and said, "I don't even want to hear about it."

"It's not that bad," Tidus said, shooting Wakka a glare.

"Yeah right. You want me to believe that Tidus, the "hottest" Basilisk doesn't have a hot love life?"

"It's actually dwindling," Tidus said.

"Wow Tidus, 'dwindling' is kind of a big word for you!" Clasko said, laughing, and Wakka joined him.

Tidus smirked and said, "I've been going to classes these days. I'm a true college student now!"

"Aw, little Tidus is a college boy now?" Wakka asked, still laughing. "In that case, what's dwindling in your love life? It's supposed to get better when you get to college."

"Tidus has too many girls on his tail," Clasko said, a smile prying on his lips. "But he's got a girlfriend."

"Oh right, I forgot about that," Wakka said.

"Why does everybody keep forgetting about that?" Tidus cried.

"At the rookie party, you sure as hell didn't act like you had a girlfriend," Wakka said, shaking his head.

Lowering his voice, Tidus leaned toward Wakka, and he said, "What exactly happened at the rookie party?"

"You weren't that trashed, were you?" Wakka asked, looking shocked.

"I don't remember a thing," Tidus said.

"Well, nothing that serious happened, not that I was watching you ever two seconds…" Wakka said.

"Did Elma and I do it?"

"How the hell can you not know?" Clasko cried. "Damn Tidus, no more rookie parties for you. And you're not even a rookie!"

"Dude, I won't be having anymore rookie parties!" Tidus cried then, perhaps a little too loud, for a few people in the area looked at them.

"Relax," Wakka said softly. "Elma and you didn't do anything. Why do you even think you did?"

"Uh, 'cause Lucil told me I did," Tidus said. "The next morning, Elma and I were on the couch, a little close. Clothed and all, but… I don't know…"

"Why would Lucil lie?" Clasko just said.

"She's like that," Wakka said, rolling his eyes. "She probably said something so that you would think about Elma or something. It's no secret that Elma is completely in love with you."

Clasko sneered and said, "It's no secret that that Lenne girl is completely in love with you too."

"Shut up," Tidus said then. "So I didn't do anything with Elma?"

"Not that I know of…" Wakka said, shrugging.

"Well damn, I wouldn't have told my girlfriend that I did then," Tidus said. "That was effing low of Lucil."

"There you go with the "effing" stuff again!" Clasko cried, just as Wakka said, "What did you just say?"

"She's messing up my life," Tidus said, standing up. "I'm gonna go give her a piece of my mind."

"Whoa there," Wakka said, grabbing the sleeve of Tidus' crewneck as he stood up and walked by. "She's playing a _game_."

"So what?" Tidus just said, yanking his arm back from Wakka.

"So I take it you don't want to go party with us afterwards?" Clasko said, looking confused. "Elma, Lucil, Wakka, and me were gonna go party…"

"Oh, I'll party all right," Tidus said through clamped teeth. "I'm going to tell Lucil what a rotten bitch she is."

"Watch the language," Wakka warned, as he gave a subconscious glance to his right, where people were watching them intently, instead of focusing on the game below them.

"Why? Every time I say 'eff', you guys look at me like I'm an effing weirdo!" Tidus cried.

To this, Clasko just laughed, although Wakka kept a stern expression on his face.

"Relax Tidus," Clasko said. "Why would you tell your girlfriend you cheated on her anyway?"

"That's the same thing Gippal said!" Tidus cried.

"Speaking of Gippal," Wakka said, and Tidus had a feeling he was just trying to change the subject and calm Tidus down, "where is he?"

"With his girlfriend or something," Tidus said.

"Maybe you should go with your girlfriend?" Wakka then offered.

"No thank you," Tidus said, slowly. He sighed loudly then, and took his seat.

"You always were a hot-head," he heard Clasko say at his side as he retook his seat, and noticed that the girls were trailing a point.

"Good, those assholes are down a point," Tidus said, crossing his arms. "I should go. I don't want to watch them play anymore."

"Tidus, language…" Wakka warned, and it was then that Tidus noticed that literally everybody in the entire room was looking at them, including parents of the players, fans, and younger children.

"Sorry," Tidus said then. He took a deep breath and leaned forward, deciding to focus his attention at the game in front of him. He needed to clear his mind.

The guys watched the game for a good five minutes, but Tidus found that he couldn't stay focused on it, just as he couldn't with his own game.

Finally, leaning back, he said, "I just don't get why they're all out to get me. Back when I wasn't taken, I didn't have these problems. Elma and I were just friends. Lucil wasn't trying to hook us up. Lenne wasn't here to make it clear to my girlfriend that she should consider her competition. Girls weren't writing their numbers on my car. You know how last weekend was autograph night? Remember those teenage girls that went through a second time? That was so they could give me their numbers. And they walked away giggling and blushing, as if they were the only ones who had ever done that. Jassu was like, "He gets that all the time…" but they didn't care. They all think they're the only ones. And most of 'em aren't sluts. They're really nice, girls. Like Yuna…"

"Wow, that was deep," Clasko said, with obvious sarcasm. "Just watch the game, Tidus."

"They're just girls who have for some reason fallen in love with me. And I just break all of their hearts. I'm sick of it," Tidus continued, ignoring Clasko's comment. "I just wanna play some blitzball."

"Some _effing_ blitzball?" Clasko added, shaking his head and sniggering softly.

"Pretty soon, I am going to eff you up," Tidus said, through clamped teeth. "Real good."

"Real good?"

"That's it!" Tidus cried, and with that, he turned to his right, where Clasko was sitting, and sent his fist flying into his jaw, knocking him into Wakka.

The people watching them all gasped, and Wakka was up in seconds, pushing Clasko aside so that he could get to Tidus. He grabbed Tidus' arms and pinned them to his side, and said, "What the hell are you doing?"

Clasko, who had fallen onto the floor when Wakka jumped up, sat up quickly, his hand on his jaw.

"Yeah, what the hell?" Clasko cried.

"Maybe coach was right about putting you in anger management," Wakka said, bringing back a joke that had been brought up Tidus' freshman year when he racked up the most penalty minutes on the team for fighting. The only difference was that now, there was not jest in Wakka's eyes.

"I'm out," Tidus just said, ripping himself out of Wakka's grasp. "See you guys at practice."

"Tidus!" Wakka cried after him, but Tidus ignored him, and walked out. He wasn't surprised to see people in the stands watching him, as they'd obviously witnessed the scene from the window.

He burst out the doors, a slight smile crawling onto his lips as he walked toward his silver car, which was in its usual parking place.

At least he'd managed to take the attention off of the girls. His fight would be what would be on everybody's tongues; not some stupid game.

--

**BONUS!**

Okay guys, I hope you enjoyed that chapter! Now, I want to do a little player introduction! For the first time ever, you get to meet the players (well, the important ones for the story) for the Bevelle Basilisks! Yay! Haha

I'll list their year, age, and some information about them. It'll be like you're reading their little profiles!

And, I'll start with the obvious. XD

**Player: **Tidus

**Year: **Junior

**Age: **20

**Hometown: **Zanarkand

**Position: **Left Wing / Center

**Number: **37

**Information: **Tidus is the Bevelle Basilisks' star player. In his freshman year, he was the youngest on the team by 22 months. (If you recall, in _Number 37_, we learn that Gippal and Tidus are the same age. If this is allowed (which, come on, I'm the author!), I'd like to change Gippal's age so that he is actually two years older than Tidus. 'Kay, thanks. Also, the reasoning is that, like in hockey, some guys play 'junior blitz' before going to college blitz. It's more common than coming straight from high school, but, let's face it, Tidus isn't 'common' now, is he?) Because of his young age, he literally became the baby of the team. He is also well-liked, although many of his teammates are jealous at his talent. As the son of a legendary blitzball player, he has been well-known all of his life. He knows little outside of blitzball. He has the school record for the most short-handed goals in a season, and also holds the record for the most penalties, thanks to the fact that he racked up the penalty minutes in his freshman year. He was drafted by the Zanarkand Abes as a freshman, and was originally going to play for them after his sophomore year, but decided to return for one more season with the Basilisks.

-

**Player: **Gippal

**Year: **Junior

**Age: **22

**Hometown: **Bikanel Island

**Position: **Center

**Number: **27

**Information: **Gippal is Tidus' roommate and best friend, as well as Tidus' caretaker. Gippal is much quieter and relaxed than Tidus, and enjoys the occasional party here and there. Gippal is motherless, and his father lives in Bikanel, being that Gippal is Al Bhed. Gippal played on the top line, where he made a great team with Tidus, until his sophomore season, when he was cut on the hand in a very unsportsman-like way. His tendons were severed, but he managed to fully recover. Even so, he has been unable to get back to his old self, and often finds himself sitting on the bench. He is also the assistant captain of the Bevelle Basilisks.

-

**Player: **Datto

**Year: **Junior

**Age: **23

**Hometown: **Besaid

**Position: **Center / Left Wing

**Number: **21

**Information: **Datto was out most of his sophomore year with an injury, but returned and was added to the top line when Gippal's injury occurred. He idolizes Tidus, and the two of them signed up for pretty much the same classes in their junior year. He is very chummy with the team, and a pretty easy-going guy. He's not the brightest guy though, and Tidus takes full advantage of this fact. Even so, he's well liked, and even Tidus has a soft spot for him.

-

**Player: **Clasko

**Year: **Senior

**Age: **24

**Hometown: **Luca

**Position: **Left Wing

**Number: **25

**Information: **Clasko is the captain of the Bevelle Basilisks as a senior. He is a little distant from the rest of the team, and strives to fill the shoes of Wakka, the past and well-liked captain of the Basilisks. Being that he plays the same position (or did play the same position) as Tidus, Clasko has always been slightly competitive with the younger player. This also causes some jealousy issues toward Tidus. For the most part though, Clasko gets along with everybody, but he can be a little heartless. He dated Lucil from the girls' team at one time.

-

**Player: **Letty

**Year: **Sophomore

**Age: **22

**Hometown: **Kilika

**Position: **Right Wing

**Number: **23

**Information: **Letty is the sophomore that Tidus is closest to. Letty is a hard-nosed, tough player who is right behind Tidus in penalty minutes, and who isn't afraid to join in on a fight. Letty loves to play video games, and would easily choose video games over partying.

-

**Player: **Jassu

**Year: **Sophomore

**Age: **21

**Hometown: **Luca

**Position: **Defense

**Number: **10

**Information: **Jassu is a rather quiet player, and a very passive player. He is one of the team's leading scorers though, having what could be considered a breakout sophomore season.

-

**Player: **Keepa

**Year: **Junior

**Age: **23

**Hometown: **Besaid

**Position: **Goalie

**Number: **1

**Information: **Keepa is the very well-liked goalie for the Bevelle Basilisks. He is one of the top goalies in college blitzball, and keeps the team alive during many of their 'dry' spells. He could easily be considered the team's MVP, if Tidus wasn't around. He's very quiet and to himself, and, like any goalie, is somewhat quirky.

-

**Player: **Blappa

**Year: **Feshman

**Age: **21

**Hometown: **Bikanel Island

**Position: **Defense

**Number: **5

**Information: **Blappa is one of three new recruits who is Al Bhed. He is a defenseman who plays often, but isn't necessarily the greatest by any means. He enjoys partying, but has a reputation of being a very nice guy. Out of all of the freshman, he's Tidus' favorite. Not that Tidus is going to admit it, though. He's also Gippal's favorite, and Gippal has been hanging out with him a lot.

-

**Player: **Berrik

**Year: **Feshman

**Age: **21

**Hometown: **Bikanel Island

**Position: **Center

**Number: **28

**Information: **Berrik is by far Bevelle's best new recruit. He is very quiet, but very sure of himself. It's estimated that he will be the next member of the team to get drafted to play professionally, since as of now, Tidus is the only signed player on the team.

-

**Player: **Eigaar

**Year: **Feshman

**Age: **20

**Hometown: **Bikanel Island

**Position: **Defense

**Number: **14

**Information: **Eigaar is the loudest of the new recruits, and enjoys partying _a lot_. He's popular with the ladies, but not like Tidus is. He is also the youngest of the new recruits, although he's still two months older than Tidus, despite the fact that he's a freshman and Tidus is a junior. He plays often, but not at all the smartest.

-

**Player: **Wakka

**Year: **Graduated

**Age: **24

**Hometown: **Besaid

**Position: **was Center

**Number: **was 16

**Information: **Wakka was the Basilisks' very favorable captain the year before. Now he is returning as a graduate student, and is acting as a manager/coach-in-training for both the men's and women's blitzball teams. He has always had a soft spot for Tidus, and is perhaps the only member of the team who has never shown any jealousy toward Tidus, but instead refers to him as the "golden boy" of the team. Wakka is a prankster, and his favorite target is Tidus. He is also very good friends with Elma and Lucil from the girls' team, and is the one who introduced them to Tidus, Clasko, and Gippal.

_Whew, that got kind of long! I think I covered all of the players mentioned in this story... __Haha__. I hope you enjoyed it! (And I might have gotten some facts messed up. But if you know this story and its predecessor better than I do, all the more power to you. XD)_


	11. Unexpected

Whew… I actually wrote the ending of this chapter l-o-n-g ago. But I have been absolutely swamped this week. Ugh, so busy! Haha…

Well, though, I know exactly how I'm going to end this story, and I must say, I'm pretty excited about it! If you guys want to know the truth, I sat down to write the ending, but instead, I ended up writing this chapter, which is probably better, right? I mean, the ending can always be written when I get to that point, right? Haha! Oh, and it's a really long update! Yay!

Enjoy!

**Chapter 11: Unexpected**

Gippal was on the phone when Tidus walked into the house. His green eyes looked up as Tidus slammed the door, but he said nothing.

Tidus walked past him and into the kitchen, and walked up to the refrigerator and took out a can of Gippal's beer. Without even caring that Gippal was going to disapprove (or the fact that it was Gippal's), Tidus cracked it open, and began to poor the liquid down his throat.

It wasn't long before Gippal appeared in the doorway, where he remained. He leaned against the doorframe with a strange look across his face, his eyes intent on Tidus, and the phone still in his hand, dangling silently at his side.

Tidus simply continued drinking the beer, and gave Gippal a look as if to say "just try and stop me."

The house was completely silent, except for the sound of Tidus swallowing. It didn't take Tidus long to feel a little uneasy. What was Gippal waiting for? Why wasn't he telling him to stop, or asking what was wrong? It wasn't everyday that Tidus went and chugged a beer randomly at three in the afternoon.

Tidus finally finished, crumpled the can in his fist, and threw it in the garbage, not even the recycling that Gippal had set up, and waited for Gippal to say something about that. Gippal instead remained silent, his eyes not leaving Tidus.

Finally, Tidus let out a loud sigh, and said, "What Gippal?"

Gippal blinked a few times, and walked slowly into the kitchen. He hung the phone up, and walked to the fridge and took out another beer.

"Want another one?" he asked Tidus, as he grabbed his out.

"What?" Tidus just said, giving his friend a confused look.

Gippal didn't wait for a response. He grabbed another beer and tossed it to Tidus, who almost dropped it, being that he was so shocked that Gippal had offered to give him the beer.

Letting out a loud sigh of his own, Gippal opened his beer, and began to drink it, his eyes no longer on Tidus.

"What gives?" Tidus asked, and he found himself opening the fridge and putting the beer back into it. Obviously his point wasn't being made.

Gippal shrugged and said, "So I hear you got in a fight with Clasko."

"It wasn't really a fight," Tidus said, shaking his head. "I just punched him. That's all."

"At the girls' game?" Gippal said, shaking his head.

"Yeah. Did Wakka tell you?" Tidus asked.

Gippal was silent for quite some time, as he took a few more gulps of his beer. Finally, he sighed loudly and said, "That was Coach on the phone, Tidus. I heard it from Coach."

Tidus' face fell.

"How the hell does Coach know?" Tidus cried. "Lemme guess, Clasko told him? That son-of-a-bitch!"

"Clasko didn't tell Coach," Gippal said quickly. "Wakka did."

Tidus' face fell even more.

"Dude, Wakka knows more than anybody that what happens between the team stays there. Why the hell would he—."

"He's not a teammate anymore," Gippal interrupted Tidus quickly. He took the last few gulps of his beer and threw it in the recycling, next to the garbage where Tidus' crushed can was. "Anyway," Gippal continued, "Coach is benching you."

"Yevon damn it," Tidus cried. "Why the hell would he bench me against _Luca_?"

"Tidus, fighting with your own teammate?" Gippal just cried, his voice raised. "And in front of all those people? What the hell were you thinking?"

"Gippal, you have no idea what's going on in my life!" Tidus suddenly cried, very loudly. He threw his arms into the air as if to help his point, and then stomped off toward the living room.

"Tidus, get back here!" he heard Gippal yell after him.

To this, Tidus just walked through the door and threw his middle finger in the air at his friend.

"Stop being a dick!" Gippal shouted, but that was all Tidus heard, for he slammed the door, and bounded up the stairs toward his room, where he locked himself in.

He threw himself on his bed, and buried his face into his pillow. This wasn't how the season was supposed to go. This wasn't how the year was supposed to go.

He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. When had it all started? When did his life start falling apart?

He knew the answer.

"What am I, twenty now?" he asked himself out loud. "Just a year ago, I was nineteen… and so damn carefree."

He let out a low sigh, and muttered, "I should be with the Abes right now. I should be spending all of my time playing blitzball. None of this off-week shit. Just blitzball, blitzball, blitzball. A girl here and there, but that's it."

Tidus' eyes suddenly lit up, and he jumped out of his bed and went running back down the stairs.

"Well look who's back from his temper tantrum," Gippal, who was sitting at the table working on homework emotionlessly said as Tidus walked back into the kitchen. "Five minutes… that's gotta be a record."

"Gip, this is serious," Tidus said, taking a seat across from his friend. "What's wrong with me?"

"What do you mean?" Gippal asked. "I mean, I could answer that, but in short you just have mental problems."

"Gip, I'm _serious_," Tidus said, doing his best to emphasize the word serious.

Gippal looked up at him, and said, "Tidus, what the hell is wrong?"

"I have a great girlfriend, right?" Tidus said.

"I don't know, are you two still together?" Gippal asked, and he turned back to the book that was in front of him.

"That's exactly it," Tidus said. "Why are we still together? I never see her. I never want to see her. The world would be a happier place if we weren't together."

To this, Gippal laughed, and said, "Ain't that the truth…"

"Elma, Lucil, Lenne, the girls at autograph night, the girls who write on my car, the girls who blog about how hot I am, the girls who… damn Gip, I could go on and on."

"Yeah, me too," Gippal said, his voice completely uninterested.

"I break their hearts," Tidus said. "Why are they so in love with me?"

To this, Gippal looked up at his friend, and let out a short laugh. "Duh Tidus, it's because they think you're hot."

"But I'm a jerk," Tidus said.

"You weren't always," Gippal said.

"I was too!" Tidus said. "I'm such a baby. Why can't they see that?"

"Because they're blinded by your good looks," Gippal said. He'd meant his words to be sarcastic, but as soon as they came out, both he and Tidus knew that they were true.

"I'm tired of being able to bend the rules," Tidus said. "You know Gip, I don't want to be a blitzball player. Do you know that?"

"You're just saying that 'cause you're pissed that you're not playing on Friday."

"No Gip, I'm serious," Tidus said. "I don't want to play. I want to be a normal guy."

"You are a normal guy," Gippal said. "You're just a college student, Tidus. A college student who happens to be real good at blitzball."

"No, I'm not," Tidus said. "I'm not normal, and I'm never going to be normal."

"I told you, just get some mental help," Gippal said.

"I said I was serious!" Tidus cried. "I can't take it Gippal! I'm trying so damn hard to be serious, and you just keep knocking me down! Clasko was the same way earlier today! That's why I punched him! I can't take it anymore Gippal! I want things to be just like they were last year! Just you, me, and the team. No one else. No one else to get in the way. I want to just be drinking friends with Elma and Lucil. Nothing else. I want to sleep with whoever the hell I want to sleep with and not worry about the fact that I have a girlfriend. I want to focus exclusively on the blitzball. I don't want to go to classes. I'm not going to be here in like two months anyway. So why the hell do I need to focus on school?"

"You're rambling, Ti," Gippal said, staring blankly at his friend.

"I'm going to break one more heart," Tidus said, standing up. "I'm breaking up with Yuna."

-

"I just got a text from Gippal," Rikku said, wrinkling her nose. "It says that Tidus is acting weird again. Apparently he got in a fight with Clasko."

"His own teammate?" Yuna asked, her face falling in surprise. "And Clasko of all people?"

"Yeah, and Wakka told their coach, who then benched Tidus for tomorrow night!" Rikku said.

"Strange…" Yuna said. "That seems really unlike him. Yuna's eyes then glanced to her own phone, which was lying at the side of the small table, right next to her latte, which also sat untouched.

"Is something wrong, Yunie?" Rikku asked. "I'm sure Tidus had a semi-good answer. He's Tidus after all. He probably just thought he could get away with whatever he wanted."

"I haven't talked to Tidus in nearly two weeks," Yuna mumbled, and she flipped her phone open as if it would somehow show a missed call from him that she hadn't noticed before. "I thought that he would want to do something last weekend because he had the bye week and all, but he never called me, and never answered my calls…"

"That's because he's too busy beating up his teammates," Rikku said. She smiled, as if to show that she was just trying to lighten the mood, but Yuna's frown only deepened.

"He just hasn't been the same," Yuna said. "I feel like I'm… wasting my time with him."

"What do you mean?" Rikku asked, looking shocked. "Yunie, you are the envy of _every_ girl in Spira! You are dating Tidus, the hottest blitzball player in all of Spira, the for-sure future star of professional blitzball! And you love him! Like, you have no idea how jealous I am of your love story! It's so sweet how you two chased each other and eventually ended up together!"

"I chased him like a slut," Yuna said, looking at the table. "It's nothing to be proud of."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Rikku said, rolling her eyes. "Any girl would have done the same. Heck, even a few _guys _might do the same."

"But that's not me," Yuna said. "I'm not like that. I didn't even know him. How could I be in love with someone I didn't even know?"

Rikku's eyes dimmed, and she said, "You two just always seemed so happy…"

"Yeah, when we were together once a month," Yuna said, leaning her head into her hand. "It's just that… I know he's not faithful, you know. And he knows it too. And he might be guilty, but I made it clear that I forgive him.

"I always thought that I was the luckiest girl in the Spira," Yuna continued almost breathlessly. "I mean, how often is it that a girl falls in love at first sight with a guy she doesn't know, only to end up with him? It's seems like something straight out of a fairytale, doesn't it? A guy like Tidus… he's basically a celebrity!

"Sometimes," Yuna said, and Rikku noticed that her cousin's eyes were beginning to soften, as if readying themselves for tears, "I think about breaking up with him. I don't think it would hurt him nearly as much as it would hurt me, but I can't. It feels like a waste of time, you know? I spent so many nights just a year ago wishing I could be with him, dreaming that I was with him. And now I'm with him, so how could I ever want to break up with him, you know?"

With a tear finally leaking out of her eye, Yuna said, "I love him. But is it fair to myself or those other girls when he doesn't love me back?""Yunie!" Rikku cooed, her face saddened by seeing her cousin as sad as she was. "Tidus does love you! I'm sure of it!"

"The problem," Yuna said, as a few more tears streamed down her face, "is that I know I'm in love with Tidus. But I don't know _what_ Tidus I'm in love with. Am I really in love with him, or am I in love with Tidus, number thirty-seven for the Bevelle Basilisks?"

"What do you mean, Yunie?"

"I mean," Yuna said, and she tried to calm herself for she was feeling on the brink of hysterics, "that I don't know if I'm in love with Tidus the man, or Tidus the blitzball player."

"Call him right now," Rikku said. "You two need to talk. Two weeks is a long time to not talk to your boyfriend. Especially since you two live in the same town and all!"

"I always assume he's busy," Yuna said, her eyes on the table. "It's like we had this mutual thing where he focused on blitzball and I focused on school…"

"Well, it's obviously not working," Rikku said. "Call him."

Yuna stared at her phone, before letting out a sigh and shaking her head.

With yet another tear sliding down her face, she said, "I'm afraid that it'll all be over."

"Yunie," Rikku said, looking very concerned. "You have to do something about this. Soon. Okay?"

"Right, right," Yuna said, shaking her head as if to clear it. "Look, I've got to go, okay?" She stood up then before Rikku could say anything, and shoved her cell phone into her handbag.

"Yunie!" Rikku called after her. "Take care, okay?"

"Yeah, of course," Yuna said, but she couldn't even manage to give her cousin a wry smile.

Yuna hurried out then, and into the surprisingly warm air. A false spring was upon Bevelle, and Yuna had to admit that it was actually very refreshing, the perfect weather despite her current relationship problems.

It was Thursday, and the next day was the blitzball game, the one that Tidus was apparently sitting out at. Yuna quickly pulled out her phone once again, and noticed that of course, Tidus hadn't called. She thought momentarily about calling him, but she finally just sighed and shoved it back into her purse.

She wasn't going to call Tidus. She wasn't in the mood to sort out her thoughts. She just couldn't.

And, she didn't want to.

She turned the corner, glad that she had decided to walk to the coffee shop instead of drive. The weather truly was gorgeous, and it made her feel as if everything was right in the world, although she knew that it was only an illusion. The newscasters were predicting snow for just the next day, and she knew that like the weather, her own life could easily come falling down at any given time.

She let out a sigh. She didn't want the fairytale to be over, but she couldn't help but wonder how long she could keep it up, how long she could let herself continue believing in it. After all, she knew that her relationship with Tidus was nothing more than a fairytale, and as much as she hated to admit it to herself, fairytales just weren't real.

Her relationship with Tidus just wasn't real.

She let out a sigh and turned the corner again, and then stopped dead in her tracks.

She was right in front of the Grand Bevelle Hotel, located just a few blocks away from the Basilisks' blitzball arena, and there, right in front of her eyes stood Lenne.

Yuna knew without questioning that it was indeed Lenne. It was her long, gorgeous brown hair that gave her away, because Yuna couldn't see her face.

And just as Yuna knew that it was Lenne that stood in front of her, she also knew that it was Tidus that Lenne was kissing. She didn't even need to take another look.

They stood there, just in front of the hotel, just in front of Yuna, completely oblivious to the world, kissing as if they were lovers who had been returned to each other for the first time in years.

Yuna didn't take another look. She turned around quickly, almost feeling guilty for witnessing what she'd just witnessed, almost as if it wasn't something she had been meant to witness, something that she wasn't supposed to witness.

Tears didn't find their way to Yuna's eyes though, and she didn't feel angry. True, her distaste for Lenne seemed to grow, but that was it. For the most part, Yuna felt emotionless. She felt tired, as if she had just been awaken from a long slumber, a long dream. In a way, Yuna realized, she had been.

The dream had finally ended.

-

Yuna pulled into Tidus' driveway and glanced at the box that she had laid next to her in the passenger seat. She'd managed to get a hold of Tidus just an hour after she'd finally made her way home, and she had to admit that she was surprised he answered. She wasn't so surprised, however, when she told him as seriously as she could that she needed to talk to him, only to have him seriously respond that he needed to talk to her, too.

She unbuckled herself and grabbed the box, and walked up to his house. She didn't even need to ring the doorbell, for Tidus answered. His blue eyes were the first thing she saw, but they were duller than usual, and not nearly as bright as the first time she'd ever seen them.

He allowed her to enter without any words, and she cradled the box to her chest and walked in slowly, unsure of what she was going to say. She wondered if he knew what was coming. She figured he did.

"Look Yuna," Tidus finally said, as Yuna took a seat on the couch and he took a seat in the chair across from it. "I'm sorry if it seems like I've been avoiding you."

_Avoiding._ The word hit Yuna harder than she could have imagined. So he had been avoiding her?

"It's just that lately I haven't been myself," Tidus continued, "and I'm tired of you having to see me like this. I've been irritable and my self confidence has been way down. I feel bad bringing you into it all."

Yuna's first reaction was to assure him that it was fine, and that she didn't mind being brought "into it all", but she controlled herself, and remained quiet, glad actually that he was doing the talking, despite the fact that she didn't like the direction of the conversation.

"A year ago, I never would have seriously thought that I'd be in a relationship like this," Tidus said. "I mean, yeah, I knew you and all, and I knew you had feelings for me, but… you see Yuna, you were the first girl who I ever really thought liked me. Like, I mean, a lot of girls want to sleep with me and all, but you were different. I thought maybe you actually honestly had feelings for me and all, and that shocked me and…" He paused, and said, "But now that I'm with you, I've come to realize that girls everywhere are in love with me. It wasn't just you."

Yuna kept her emotions under control the best she could, but she was beginning to wish that he would stop. Every word he said, ever intonation he made, every time his voice reached her ears, she felt as if something within her was dying. One-by-one, the lights inside of her were dimming, and it felt as if a knife was being stabbed into her with every word.

The worst thing was that Tidus was refusing to look at her. He was leaning his elbows on his knees, with his hands clasped between them, and it was his clasped hands that he gave his attention to, not Yuna.

Even though Yuna knew on the way over that when she left his house that her relationship with Tidus would be over, she knew that she'd managed to keep a little bit of hope within her, a little bit of hope that there was still a chance for a happy ending. As Tidus continued to talk though, she realized that the chances for a happy ending were becoming slimmer and slimmer.

She swallowed hard though, and told herself that she had to be positive. It wasn't a sad ending, it really wasn't. A year ago, all she would have asked for was a day with Tidus. Instead, she'd been granted nearly an entire year of being his girlfriend. That was all she wanted, all she needed. It wasn't a sad ending.

But it definitely wasn't a happy one.

"Anyway Yuna," Tidus finally finished, after seemingly rambling for a few minutes, "I think we should… you know, break up or whatever."

Yuna swallowed hard, and kept her face firm. She blinked just twice to make sure that no tears were apparent in her eyes, and she said, "I agree."

Tidus seemed shocked to hear her say that, for his head snapped to his left to look at her, and she now found herself looking at her lap, unable to face him. Still, she felt his unblinking stare on her, and knew that his mouth was agape and shock. She didn't need to see him to know.

"So it's mutual then?" Tidus said, his voice rather emotionless.

Yuna just nodded slowly. She stood up then, and walked up to him, the white box in her arms, outstretched slightly in front of her.

"Take this," she said, handing him the box. He took it, his eyes staring into hers unblinkingly. He knew without looking what was in the box.

"So this is really it then," he said, a statement instead of a question, and he nodded as he said it, as if his words were what confirmed it.

"Yes," Yuna answered. She swallowed loudly. "But," she continued almost breathlessly, "I still have feelings for you." With that, she turned quickly, and walked out the door.

Tidus stood there, dumbfounded, and listened as her car pulled out of his driveway.

With a sigh, he lifted the cover of the box, only to confirm what he already knew. The brilliant blue thirty-seven stared at him. It was, of course, the jersey that had started the whole mess.

Tidus stared at it for some time, before putting the lid back on it. It truly was over in a way that no words could confirm. The jersey was all the proof Tidus needed.


	12. Unexpected Conversation

This chapter is a little bit shorter than my past ones, but… oh well. It's a slight filler. XD;; Oh well though, right?

Also, just for reference, I'm going to try to have at least 15 chapters, if not a few more… as of now, it all depends on the hockey season here! (In other words, this weekend!)

Enjoy!

**Chapter 12: Unexpected Conversation**

Plopping down on the large, plump leather couch, Yuna put her laptop on top of her lap, and quickly accessed the internet. Her hair was pulled into a pony tail and her makeup was off. It was late, but she couldn't get to sleep. She had spent the night attempting to study, but she found herself unable to do so.

Tidus wasn't _hers_ anymore. She bit her lip. He'd never been hers. The illusion had completely faded. She couldn't help but feel as if she had just been watching a fairy tale movie that had unexpectedly quit before getting to the ending, that happy ending.

The door opened, and in walked her father, who looked rather tired from what must have been a hard day at work. It was going on one in the morning, after all.

"You're up late," he said, giving her a suspicious look, as Yuna was usually in bed at ten at the latest. Especially on a school night. "Do you have a test tomorrow or something?"

"No, I don't," Yuna answered. She clicked on a link that she had just discovered not long before, feeling glad that her father wasn't looking at what she was doing.

Her relief was short lived, however, for her father walked up to her, and peeked at the screen.

"Yuna, what's this?" he asked, wrinkling his forehead in confusion. "'Basilisk Blitzball Luv Blog?' What's that?"

"A blog I discovered," Yuna said, doing her best to ignore the fact that her father's eyes were so intently watching what she was doing.

"You're not still seeing that blitzball player, are you?"

"No," Yuna answered, as her eyes skimmed a post that the blogger had written, which was a preview for the upcoming game against Luca, and the rumor that Tidus wouldn't be playing. "I'm not with him anymore."

"Then what are you doing?" her father asked, his voice somewhat stern.

Yuna smiled, and clicked to leave a comment on the blog.

"I'm telling the world that Tidus is single again and that life can go on. But they'd better hurry, because Lenne has dibs on him," she said, and as she said it, she typed her words into the box, and clicked 'comment.'

In just a second, there were Yuna's words, clear as day, amongst all of the other comments that random people left about what a shame it was that Tidus wouldn't be playing, although none of them were complaining that he would be wandering the stands.

With that, she folded her laptop up, said a quick 'goodnight' to her father, and started up the stairs, hoping that she could finally fall asleep.

Her father simply watched her, before blinking a few times in confusion, and heading off toward his own room.

-

"Tidus, back to your usual self I see," Gippal said as he walked into the house with his arms loaded with groceries, only to see Tidus on the couch, far into his video game to notice his surroundings.

"Yeah, you know," Tidus said. "Hey, did you get more chips? I ate the last two bags we had."

"You ate _all _of those chips?" Gippal questioned. "Hey, and some help with these would be nice!"

Tidus just gave Gippal a pout, and turned back to his video game.

"You are so spoiled," Gippal said from the kitchen then, and Tidus heard him slam down the groceries on the counter. "And I hear you weren't in class today."

"Class Shmash," Tidus said, not taking his eyes off of the blitzball video game that he was playing. "I've almost gotten the Abes to win the cup. I traded up my players and stuff. I can't wait 'til I'm on a video game."

"Not gonna lie, that would be pretty damn awesome," Gippal said, laughing as he said it.

"Exactly," Tidus said, smiling proudly. "I'll be on the cover of the game too."

"Right, right," Gippal said. "But first, you have to get your act together. You can't be picking fights with your teammates."

"Dude, that's over with. Ancient history," Tidus said, rolling his eyes.

Gippal rolled his eyes and then said, "Hey, we have a game in less than three hours. Just 'cause you're not playing tonight doesn't mean we don't need you for tomorrow."

"Right, of course," Tidus said sarcastically. "If Coach needed me that bad, I wouldn't be sitting tonight."

"Tidus, Coach only sat you because you deserved it, and because Luca's new ace is sitting too."

"Luca's new ace?"

"Come on Tidus, you haven't heard of him? Oh that's right, you only pay attention to yourself."

Tidus glared at his friend, and said, "I only _need_ to pay attention to myself, Gippal."

"Anyway," Gippal said, ignoring Tidus, "he's some ace from Zanarkand. Maybe you know him?"

"Zanny's a big city," Tidus said, focusing his eyes back on the TV. "This kid signed?"

"Yeah, with the Luca Goers," Gippal said. "Luca's gonna be the team to beat this year…"

"And Coach went and sat me," Tidus said, rolling his eyes.

"I was talking with Coach," Gippal said, again ignoring Tidus, "and he said that Luca's tough, but he thinks we can beat them. He said that new kid's the one that's been carrying them. Anyway, uh, Coach said he was going to play me tonight."

"Really Gip?" Tidus said then, his head snapping to the side to face his friend. "That's great! You'll be back on my line in no time!"

Gippal just gave Tidus a small smile, and he said, "But you know I've been off…"

"Stop being so damned hard on yourself!" Tidus cried, a smile lighting his face. "This rocks Gip. True, I've gotten used to Datto and all, but man, no one can replace you!"

Gippal's smile grew slightly, but it disappeared then.

"Yeah," he said, as he turned away from Tidus, "but you stole my position, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Tidus said, sinking back into the couch. "I hate it, Gip. Center's no fun."

Gippal laughed, and said, "You'll get used to it. And then you'll score more. Besides, you are a killer on those face-offs. Our team has never been known for winning them, but have you ever even missed one?"

"It's easy," Tidus just said, and he picked up the controller for his game.

"Ti, go get ready," Gippal said, noticing that Tidus had picked up the controller.

Tidus rolled his eyes, but laughed despite himself, and turned the video game off.

-

"Maybe it was a bad idea to come here," Yuna said softly as soon as she walked into the arena, after having her ticket scanned.

"You already had tickets," Rikku said, giving her cousin a nudge. "You had to go."

"I know, I know," Yuna said. "And I do like to watch the game…"

"Like I've said multiple times," Rikku said, walking slightly ahead of Yuna, "just ignore Tidus. Don't think badly about the whole team because of him. Everyone else is so sweet. Hey, if you want, I could probably hook you up with one of the Al Bhed freshman! Don't worry, they're all in their twenties, so the age wouldn't be that weird or anything!"

Yuna gave her cousin a somewhat disgusted look, and she said, "I don't think Tidus would like it very much if I dated one of them…"

"Who cares, Yunie! This is about _you_, not _him_. Tidus will move right on, so I think you should too."

"Well, I'm not interested in a blitzball player," Yuna said quickly. It was the truth, after all. The only exception was… well, Tidus.

Rikku smiled and said, "I just don't want you to feel down or anything over Tidus."

Yuna laughed and said, "Trust me Rikku, I'm fine."

Rikku attempted to search her cousin for signs of discontent, but found none. She ended up shrugging, and then led the way to their seats.

"So who exactly broke up with who?" Rikku said, as soon as they reached their seats.

Yuna let out a sigh. She had told Rikku that she had broken up with Tidus just as they had pulled into the arena, and not a moment sooner. She had purposely left out most of the details, but she should have figured that Rikku wouldn't just drop it.

"Please tell me you broke up with him," Rikku said, her green eyes hard on Yuna. "He was being such a jerk. You're way too good for him."

"It was mutual," Yuna just said softly.

"You don't seem too upset," Rikku said. "So you wanted to break up with him, right?"

"I don't think "want" is the right word…" Yuna trailed.

"Well, you needed to break up with him," Rikku said, nodding as she said it. "Trust me. I assure you, you'll be much happier without him."

"Rikku," Yuna found herself saying, her voice still soft. "Tidus is Gippal's best friend. Why are you being so hard on him?"

Rikku sighed and sat back, crossing her arms.

"Okay Yunie, don't you think it's a little sad that Gippal would choose Tidus over me!"

"What?"

"Well he would!" Rikku said, her voice raising. "I swear, every time—ever single time—we're on a date, Tidus calls, and whines to Gippal that they're out of ice cream, or he calls Gippal to tell him something stupid about a video game, or he calls Gippal to tell him he needs help with homework, or… Yevon Yuna, I could go on and on. Tidus calls Gippal sometimes, and just says, "Hey, where are you? What are you doing?" It gets old real fast, Yunie."

Yuna watched her cousin as she talked, a small smile growing on her lips with every word of Rikku's. As Rikku's frown deepened, Yuna's smile widened. Finally, Yuna had to look away from Rikku, for she knew that it was only a matter of time before she started to laugh, an antic that she doubted Rikku would be happy about. But Yuna couldn't help herself: it was too much like Tidus to do something like that.

"It's good to see that there are still signs of Tidus being himself," Yuna finally managed, when Rikku ended her rant. "He does that on purpose, you know. Because he doesn't like the attention taken away from him."

"Well, that's immature," Rikku said, crossing her arms and sinking in her chair.

Yuna nodded, and said, "Well, Tidus is an immature guy."

"Ain't that the truth."

Rikku and Yuna's eyes both opened wide, and they turned around quickly in their chairs, only to see Tidus standing behind them, a slight smile on his lips. His suit was on and his hands were tucked in his pockets, his blue eyes knowingly on them.

Both Rikku and Yuna opened their mouths to try to utter something out, but Tidus beat them to it, and said, "Hi Rikku. Hi Yuna."

"H-Hi," Rikku managed.

"You girls sure get here early," Tidus said, taking a seat in the seat that he was standing by. He rested his arm on the armrest and leaned his head in his hand, his eyes looking beyond Yuna and Rikku and into the sphere pool. "The guys haven't even started warming up yet."

"I didn't know you were sitting out," Rikku said then. "What's up with that? Don't we need you out there?"

"Apparently not," Tidus said.

"So why are you sitting out?" Rikku asked.

Tidus laughed, and said, "I bet I'm going to get asked that all night long… What am I supposed to tell them?"

"Maybe the truth," Yuna said, surprised at how harsh her voice sounded.

"What, that I broke up with my girlfriend and that I'm too heartbroken to play?"

Yuna turned around quickly in her seat, and glared at him, especially since he was wearing an amused smile.

"That's not the truth," she found herself saying between her teeth.

Rikku gave a shocked look from Tidus to Yuna, and then set her expression into a glare to match Yuna's, directed at Tidus.

"Right, sorry," Tidus said, looking past Yuna and Rikku and at the sphere pool again. "Well, I can't tell them the truth."

"Well, don't ask us for help," Rikku said then, and turned around in her seat, and crossed her arms, making it obvious that she didn't want to talk to Tidus.

Yuna fetl her bottom lip curl under her front teeth. She felt awkward, still sitting there, turned to face Tidus, but at the same time, she didn't want to turn around. He wasn't looking at her, and neither was Rikku, and Yuna couldn't decide if that made things more or less awkward.

She hadn't expected Tidus to talk to her at all. She felt her eyes nervously go to his face, just to see what his expression was. She was hoping to see some kind of thought or worry, or something that would show her that there was more he wanted to tell her, more he wanted to talk to her about, but he just looked bored. His eyelids were hanging just above his eyes, almost sleepily, and he was still leaning his head in his hand. On the left side of him, he drummed his fingertips slowly on the armrest. He seemed completely oblivious that Yuna was still looking at him.

Yuna finally turned away from him, and looked at the ground. What had he meant by saying that he sat out because he was heartbroken? He'd said it with complete sarcasm, almost nastily. Of course, she'd spoken rather nastily to him before, but still… could he mean something by his words? Did he have any 'heartbreak?'

Quickly, Yuna shook her head. No, he didn't have any heartbreak. She found herself stealing another glance behind her. He hadn't moved even an inch, and was still sitting there with that bored look across his face. She was beginning to wonder if Tidus had any emotions at all.

"Well, I gotta go," Tidus' voice was suddenly heard from behind. Yuna turned around to say bye, but he was already heading up the stairs.

"What a weirdo," Rikku said at Yuna's side.

"I can't figure him out," Yuna said, shaking her head. "I really can't."

"Look where he is now," Rikku said then, pointing way across the arena. "With Lenne."

Yuna squinted to see, and sure enough, she saw the back of his head as he talked to Lenne, who was laughing at something or other.

"Good to see she's happy," Yuna said, sitting back against the chair. She hadn't told Rikku that she'd seen Tidus and Lenne, and she wasn't in the mood to. She was glad that the players had come into the pool for warm-ups, for Rikku turned all of her attention to them.

"Gippal's playing!" Rikku announced happily, just as Gippal swam past them.

Yuna gave Rikku a fleeting smile, and then looked back to Lenne, who she noticed was now alone. Yuna quickly tore her gaze away from the brunette though, telling herself that there was no reason to be jealous.

She looked up behind her then, only to see Tidus standing by Elma and Lucil.

"Yevon he gets around!" she cried, as she turned her attention back to the sphere pool.

"He sure does," Rikku agreed, as she quickly turned to see what Yuna was looking at. "Those girls aren't even pretty. What's he doing?"

"They're his _friends_," Yuna just said in disgust. "But they're all in love with him."

Rikku let out a disgusted snort, and turned back to the game.

Yuna's eyes went to Tidus once more, and he appeared to be in some sort of intense conversation with Elma and Lucil, and he must have hit a funny part in the story, for their laughter floated throughout the entire arena.

Yuna jerked her attention back to the game and crossed her arms. Jealousy boiled within her stomach. She found herself wishing that she was in Elma's position, or even Lucil's. She could just be his friend with benefits. At least then she could be listening to him talk, laughing at whatever witty thing he was probably saying.

With her eyes closed, Yuna leaned back in her chair. Coming to the game hadn't been a good idea after all.


	13. Unexpected Rivalry

**I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, I really, really am. I'd love to get into my reasoning behind the late update, but… it'd ruin the story. So you'll just have to wait for an explanation until the end of the story, which should be coming soon. I think I might have to do a chapter 14 and then the final chapter will be chapter 15. Expect them both to come… hopefully soon. We'll see.**

**In the meantime, enjoy!**

Chapter 13: Unexpected Rivalry

Tidus leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, and prepared himself for the coach's quick pre-game speech. He could hear the crowd vaguely, even from deep within the locker room, and he assumed it was going to be another full house.

"Alright guys, forget about last night's loss," the coach was saying. He was standing just a little in front of Tidus. "We only lost by one point."

"Yeah, and that was such a shitty goal. I shouldn't 'of let it in," Keepa said softly at Tidus' left.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault," Clasko said quickly.

"Tonight's going to be a little tougher," the coach continued, ignoring Keepa's comment. "Luca's gonna have their ace in. This kid's apparently good, and why he wasn't in last night is beyond me."

"The rumor's shoulder injury," Wakka put in.

"Right, whatever," the coach said. "That's fine and dandy, because we're gonna have _our _ace in too." With this, he put his hand on Tidus' shoulder, causing Tidus to look up at him. The whole team looked at him as well, and it was the first time that Tidus truly felt all eyes on him.

"Now wait a minute," Tidus said quickly, shaking his head. "I'm just a guy, out there like the rest of you. And this so-called _ace_ is too. There's no such thing as an ace. We got Keepa, who, is one of the best goaltenders in this league." Tidus gave Keepa a quick nudge. "And Datto's picking up on left-wing like nothing I've ever seen. And, we have Gippal back in. No one—and I mean no one—can throw a pass like Gippal can."  
Gippal gave a smile at Tidus, and Tidus nodded and said, "Hell, Luca may have ten times more signed guys than we do, but we're the better team. Trust me, I watched 'em last night. They aren't that good. We just gotta get our heads out of our asses and play. We can do it.

"And this ace," Tidus continued, his characteristic smirk crawling onto his face. "Leave him to me."

Keepa hit Tidus on the back and gave him a smile, and then stood up. Tidus followed, and the team quickly put their hands in the center, and yelled out "Basilisks!" at the top of their lungs, before running out and into the pool.

"Okay, I'm gonna win the face-off, and throw it straight to you," Tidus said to Datto quickly, as the guys prepared for the face-off. "And then we'll do that play we worked at in practice. Got it?"

"Got it," Datto said quickly.

"So where's this ace?" Tidus questioned then, looking across the sphere at the Lucan team, who were chatting quickly just as he and Datto were.

"I saw 'im. He's not much bigger than you," Datto said. "I saw him from far away though, so I don't know. He's probably a little more muscular, no offense or anything, but you can take 'im."

"That's what I like to hear," Tidus said, laughing and shaking his head. "What number is he? Anybody know?"

To this, Datto snickered and said, "Thirty-seven."

"You're shitting me," Tidus said, shaking his head. "At least it'll be easy to remember his number."

With that, the guys swam toward the center, readying themselves for the first face-off of the game. Tidus looked over at Datto and nodded at him, and then did the same for the rest of the guys out there. He turned around and gave Keep a thumbs-up, who returned it, wearing a sure smile on his face.

_"Alright, here we go," _Tidus thought to himself. He positioned himself, waiting for Luca's ace to show up to challenge him for the face-off.

As soon as the ace came into view though, Tidus' face dropped completely. He swam up nonchalantly across from Tidus, wearing an all-too familiar smirk. At his side, across from Datta was the infamous red-haired captain for Luca, who was also smirking at Tidus' realization as to who the ace was.

Tidus quickly composed himself, and threw on a similar smirk to the one Luca's ace was wearing.

"Shuyin, did you finally get out of Juniors?" Tidus questioned, the smirk wide on his face.

"Yeah Tidus, I did," the other blonde said, his smirk growing. "So where were you last night? I didn't see you."

Tidus snorted, and said, "They decided to save me for when the new 'Lucan ace' was playing, but I see now that that was unnecessary."

"Don't tell me you didn't know it was me," Shuyin said, his cool blue eyes on Tidus'.

"I didn't think you'd ever make it to college, let alone be considered an 'ace,"' Tidus just said, shaking his head. Datto watched the two, his eyes wide.

"Wait, you know him?" Datto finally said, which caused both Shuyin and Bickson to laugh. Jassu, who was on Tidus' other side, shrugged as well, giving Tidus and Shuyin the same look Datto was.

"We're family," Shuyin said, laughing.

"Alright, enough talking," the ref said then, butting between the two. The ref looked at Tidus and Shuyin then as well, but just shook his head.

"Brothers?" Datto said, ignoring the ref's comment.

Both Shuyin and Tidus laughed.

"Cousins," the both said at the same time. With that, the ball flew into the air, signaling that the game was to begin. Tidus shot up to grab it, only to have it ripped from him from Shuyin, who caught the ball with little difficulty and shoved through Tidus.

Tidus quickly turned around and darted after him, cursing under his breath as he did so. Luckily Shuyin's pass was intercepted by Blappa, who then quickly tossed the ball to Tidus. Smiling widely, Tidus caught the ball, and started toward Luca's goal post, only to get tackled hard by a smirking Bickson before he could even get into Luca's zone.

Turning around with a frown on his face, Tidus reached forward to try to slip the ball out of Bickson's hands, only to hear a piercing whistle float through the water.

_"What?"_ Tidus' mind questioned as he turned around to face the ref, who, to his shock, was pointing at him, and making the signal that Tidus was getting called for holding.

"I wasn't touching him!" Tidus cried, swimming angrily up to him. He saw Gippal getting off the bench out of the corner of his eye and swimming toward him. He also saw both Bickson and Shuying smirking at him.

"What's going on?" Gippal asked. "What's the call?"

"Holding," the ref said, and it was then that Tidus realized the ref had a hold on his jersey. "Two minute minor."

"Are you sure on that?" Gippal questioned, as calm as ever. In the background, the crowd was booing.

"I'm positive," the ref said. And with that, he pulled Tidus toward the penalty box.

"Okay guys," the coach said, as he paced back and forth in the locker room. "The refs are obviously on their side. So we have to play as hard as possible. Make it hard for them to make the calls."

"Can't you do something?" Clasko asked, looking bewildered by the coach's words.

"Like what, hit them out of the arena?" Tidus questioned, a smile forming on his lips.

The coach glared at Tidus, but Gippal just let out a soft chuckle, as did most of the upperclassmen, for the year before, Tidus had tackled a guy, knocking him hard into the ref, who then was shot out of the pool. It was an "accident" as Tidus claimed.

As if reading everybody's minds, Tidus let out a laugh and said, "Seriously guys, that was accidental."

"You guys need to be serious," the coach said then, shaking his head. "We need this win. If we don't win here, I have a feeling we'll be seeing these guys again soon in play-offs. This isn't a team I want to face in play-offs."

"Definitely not," Gippal agreed softly.

"Hey, Tidus," Datto said then, and Tidus knew before Datto continued that whatever he said was going to be completely off topic. "So what's with that guy out there that looks like you?"

"Yeah really, what is up with that?" Jassu said, despite the fact that the coach was shaking his head at them.

"He's my cousin," Tidus said, rolling his eyes. "He's my age, and we've been rivals forever. But he played junior blitz, so he's just a freshman."

"Which means they have him for longer than we'll have you," the coach said. "Now get out there guys. Let's win this already!"

"I can't believe we lost," Tidus said, putting his forehead on the table. "Add this to my list of "disappointing losses."'

"Ah, cheer up, we'll face 'em again in the play-offs," Gippal said, shaking his head with a disgusted look on his face. "And the refs _sucked_."

"That's so lame!" Tidus cried. "What, just 'cause Luca's supposed to be the good team this year? What's up with that?"

"Weren't you listening at all when Coach was ranting after we lost?" Gippal asked.

"Uh… no. I was too busy running slew of bad words through my head," Tidus said, giving Gippal a grin. "I didn't want to lose that that asshole Shuyin."

"What is up with that?" Gippal asked then, and he leaned closer to Tidus.

"We've been like huge rivals for as long as I can remember," Tidus said. "We're just a month apart in age, so our parents used to make us hang out and stuff. But Shuyin was jealous 'cause I was always better. Natural talent and all, I guess. But he's bigger, so he always thought he could beat me up and stuff… which… uh… he can."

Gippal laughed and said, "If you would drink that protein powder I tell you to drink after weight lifting, you could be bigger."

Tidus just made a disgusted face, and then he said, "What Gip, do you want me to fail the drug test or something? I'm sure that stuff has illegal substances in it."

"It's protein, Ti…"

"Yeah, but who knows what's in protein!" Tidus cried loudly.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway," Gippal said with a sigh. "Season's already almost over."

"Right," Tidus said, his eyes downcast. "We're in Kilika this week, a bye week, and then the playoffs…"

"Right," Gippal said, nodding. "Have you talked with Zanarkand lately?"

"The second we're done," Tidus said, looking at his friend. "I turn in my jersey, pack my stuff, and I'm outta here."

"That's what I figured," Gippal said. "Too bad it wasn't the greatest season, huh?"

"Why not?" Tidus said, throwing on a blank look. "So far we have a better record than we did last year! And we don't even have that many good guys. Datto's really improved, Keepa's been awesome, and those freshman aren't too bad at all."

"We spent the whole first half fighting, you broke up with your girlfriend…"

"Forget about all that," Tidus said quickly, and almost harshly. "It's not like it was a big deal anyway."

"You don't feel anything toward Yuna anymore?" Gippal asked, looking shocked. "I thought you really liked her. You were practically love-sick over her last year."

"Things change Gip," Tidus said. "I don't want to ever have a girlfriend again."

"Fair enough," Gippal said with a shrug.

The two were silent then for a long time, before Gippal looked at Tidus and said, "By the way, when Rikku and I are on dates, you gotta stop calling and bugging us all the time."

"What do you mean?" Tidus asked innocently.

"Don't play innocent," Gippal said. "You know exactly what I mean."

Tidus just smiled, and said, "Come on now Gippal, you know it's always for important reasons."

"It is not," Gippal said, surprisingly harsh. "And Rikku's getting real sick of it man. Just knock it off."

Tidus' smile slowly faded, and he said, "Come on Gip, I'm your best friend. You'd ditch her for me, right?"

"Tidus, at one time, I would," Gippal said, and Tidus' smile faded even more as he saw the serious look that was on his friend's face. "But now, I can't. I'm sorry Tidus, but I love Rikku. I love her more than I love you. You felt that way with Yuna, didn't you?"

Tidus looked at the ceiling, with a confused look on his face. Finally, he stared back at Gippal blankly, and said, "No."

Gippal returned Tidus' confused look, and he said, "Did you love Yuna, Tidus? I mean, ever? Did you ever love her?"

Tidus continued to stare blankly at Gippal, and he blinked a few times, before he finally responded, very softly, "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I don't know what love is…" Tidus finally said, shaking his head. "Anyway, see ya 'round. I'm gonna go to bed…"

"Tidus," Gippal said, as Tidus started toward the stairs. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Tidus said. "Goodnight Gippal."

"Yeah, goodnight, Tidus," Gippal said.

"Oh, and Gip?" Tidus said, just as he was halfway up the stairs. "I won't annoy you and Rikku and more. I'm sorry."

With that, Tidus reached the top of the stairs, and Gippal listened as he heard Tidus' door shut softly, signaling that Tidus was done with the conversation.


	14. Unexpected Change in Behavior

**Okay, this took me a little longer to write than I thought it would! BUT, things are good again, so… yay! And this chapter was actually a decent length! DOUBLE YAY!**

…**But, this is also the second-to-last chapter! So enjoy!**

Chapter 14: Unexpected Change in Behavior

"I can't believe the Basilisks got put against Luca!" Rikku moaned loudly, and she put her head in her hands. "Even though the Basilisks have won their last three games, they _still_ got put against Luca! The refs are so biased against us when we play Luca! I don't know why, but they are. Even Gippal said so! And if the guys lose the play-off game, then they're done!"

Yuna simply leaned back in her chair and took a drink of her hot cocoa, and continued to read her government book that she had been trying to focus on for over an hour, but instead had been listening to Rikku moan about the play-off match-up.

"Yunie, you could at least pretend to care!" Rikku cried. "I miss the days when you were into blitzball. Even without Tidus, wasn't it fun? Besides, you've been a little… strange lately. Are you sure you don't still like Tidus?"

Yuna looked up and glared at her cousin.

"I'd rather not talk about it, if that's okay with you," Yuna said, her eyes cold on Rikku.

"You didn't go to the last three games," Rikku said, ignoring Yuna's comment.

"Rikku," Yuna said, glaring at her cousin, "do you really expect me to go to another game after what happened when they played Luca?"

"What happened? Besides the fact that the refs sucked?"

"Tidus!" Yuna cried. "Don't you remember? I can't take it. I can't stand seeing him with those girls, I can't stand having him talk to me like that… like he doesn't even care."

"You still like him, a lot, don't you, Yunie?" Rikku asked, her voice soft and her eyes on the table. "Why?"

Yuna sighed and looked at the table as well.

"I don't know," she finally managed, her voice incredibly soft.

"Look Yunie, you have to forget about him," Rikku said quickly. "In fact, I have the perfect idea. You know how Chocobo Day is coming up?"

"Oh please Rikku," Yuna said, giving her cousin a disgusted look, "you know my dad would never let me go to one of those parties."

"What? Why not?" Rikku cried.

"He says it's a gaudy holiday," Yuna said, and she crossed her arms, "and I agree. It's just an excuse for people to drink a lot and act like idiots."

"Come on Yunie, it's not all like that!" Rikku said. "Anyway, there's this party this weekend, and we should so go. We'll get cute little chocobo masks to wear, and we'll be completely and totally non-idiotic and just have a good time."

"Shouldn't you go with Gippal?" Yuna asked. "Or do they have a game this weekend?"

"No, they have a bye week," Rikku said, and she looked at the ground. "But Gippal said that Tidus got a hole in his suit, so they have to go look for a new one. Besides, he said last Chocobo Day, Tidus got a little out of hand. Have you ever seen Tidus when he's had too much to drink, Yunie?"

"Uh, no…" Yuna responded, and she found herself wishing that the conversation would stop going back to Tidus. That side of Tidus was something she didn't want to know about, 

something she didn't want to hear about. Her seemingly false illusion of Tidus had already been crushed, and she didn't need it to be even more crushed. Her heart simply couldn't take it.

"He's crazy. Like, off-the-wall," Rikku said.

"When were you with him?"

"Gippal and I went to a bar," Rikku said, blushing, because she knew her cousin would be disapproving, "and Tidus came with. Yevon Yuna, it's almost _cute_. He was talking to this older lady who must have been in her late twenties/early thirties, and she knew who he was of course, but he was talking her ear off. He bounced right up to her, and she said that she was a fan of his, and he started being like "Do I suck? I went to this Abes training camp over the summer, and do you think that's why I suck? Do you think I suck? Do you thinks this year I suck?" and the lady was just "Uh, no, you don't suck." Then, this other lady who was friends with the first lady came up, and Tidus says, "Who's that?" and the lady is like "My roommate." So then Tidus was like "Hi, I'm Tidus!" Then, Tidus went bouncing back off to who knows where."

Rikku took a deep breath and continued: "and then Tidus returned to the lady, and again bounced—I really mean it Yunie, he was _hopping_, like a bunny or something, so he hopped right back over to her, and started talking to her, and then he looked at her roommate and was like, "Who's that?" and again, the lady was like, "Uh, my roommate." And Tidus goes "Hi, I'm Tidus!" and then bounces back off!

"Then," Rikku continued, her voice growing more and more excited, "Tidus went back a _third_ time, and starts talking to the lady, and turned to her roommate and asks "Who's that?" and the lady was like, "Okay, you've asked me now three times…" Anyway, Gippal had to go and drag him away and we had to leave. It was seriously funny, Yunie. And the whole way back, Tidus talked about what a nice lady that lady was, but he just didn't understand who the lady with her was. Gippal kept glaring at me because I was laughing. The second we got back to the house, Tidus announced that he was going to play some video games, but he went straight to the couch and fell asleep. It was so funny."

Yuna sat there, a slight smile growing on her face.

"You know," Rikku continued, "when he's sober, he's so quiet. Like, almost sheepish or shy acting, really. You wouldn't know it, because usually he has his flirt mode on, but when he's around the guys, he's so quiet and reserved, and honestly sheepish. He's… cuter that way, honestly."

Yuna's eyes met the table again. That was the Tidus that she had only just begun to know. The Tidus that she found she dreadfully wanted to know better. Not the drunk Tidus necessarily, but…

"Does Tidus go to the bars a lot?" Yuna asked, suddenly realizing that it suddenly seemed like her cousin knew more about the guy she dated for a year than she herself.

"No," Rikku said. "Because Tidus was always _glued_ to the video games. Gip said that last year, Tidus didn't do anything but play those games. He puts a big glob of chew in his lip, sits there and plays games all day, goes to practice, and goes back home. Gip said that Tidus sometimes doesn't even eat."

"Well, that's not healthy!" Yuna found herself saying quickly.

"He meets with a nutritionist and all, 'cause he can't keep the pounds on," Rikku said. "But he's totally healthy otherwise, according to his nutritionist."

"It seems like I never even knew much about Tidus," Yuna said. "I had this illusion of him, you know, this fake idea of what he was like. But then he wasn't, and I got sad, but… when you talk like this, it sounds like the Tidus I imagined…"

"Yeah, the Tidus with the team is way cuter. They love to make him mad, because once he gets razzed up, he won't stop. And it doesn't take a lot. And he'll just go on and on and on. And the guys just think it's hilarious. Oh, and this one time, I went to Kilika to watch them play—I tried to call you Yunie to see if you wanted to go, but you were like MIA or something—and me and this friend of mine I went with went to this restaurant that the team was going to. And the guys were leaving to get their coats, and Tidus couldn't get his sleeve on, so he put both of his arms in the coat and tried to flip it over his head, and seriously got stuck in his coat! My friend was like, "Need help with that Tidus?" and he blushed like ten shades of red because I don't think he realized we were watching. It was so adorable."

Yuna gave her cousin a meek smile, and said, "He never really acted like that around me…"

"I wonder if he was nervous around you?" Rikku said. "That could make sense and all. And… well, Gippal told me that Tidus' first love is—and always will be—blitzball. So…"

"So yeah," Yuna finished for her cousin.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Rikku said then, quickly, "Gippal said that yesterday, Tidus told him that he's going to remain single forever."

"So he's dumped Lenne already? Or were they never officially together?"

Rikku looked thoughtful, and she then shrugged and said, "Actually, I honestly don't know."

The two sat there in silence then, before Rikku took a deep breath and said, "Anyway Yunie, we should go to this party I know of. I promise you it'll be fine. Like I mentioned before, we'll get adorable masks, and we'll hardly be recognizable! It's so much fun! Since when have you listened to your father anyway? He told you not to date Tidus, but you didn't listen!"

"I wish I would have," Yuna said slowly.

"Cheer up Yunie! This will be great. I promise you! You haven't lived 'til you've been to a Chocobo Day party! It's so fun, and no one knows who you are because of the mask!"

Yuna gave Rikku a suspicious look, and she said, "Will Tidus be there?"

"No, definitely not," Rikku said. "A new video game came out, and that's all he's been doing. Guess what his grades are right now?"

"Not good?" Yuna just said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah. He's so on academic probation…_again_," Rikku said, and she laughed. "He framed the letter."

"How often do you spend time with him?" Yuna demanded, her voice rather harsh.

Rikku looked taken aback, and she said, "Uh… Well, every time I go to Gippal's house, Tidus is there…"

"When I was dating him, you thought he was the worst guy in the world!" Yuna cried.

"Yeah, he was a jerk then! But he's so cool now. Gippal said he was just stressed and stuff."

"Why—," Yuna started, only to get cut off by Rikku.

"Yunie, we can talk about it later. Right now, we need to go get you ready for that party!"

-

"I think this is a horrid idea," Yuna said, as she struggled to keep her sparkly, yellow-feathered mask on her face. She was wearing a plain white dress that swooped out just past her knees, with yellow sparkles going down the right side. Rikku meanwhile had on a large gaudy mask, and a yellow-feathered dress. Even throughout the gaudiness of it, though, Rikku managed to pull it off well.

Rikku led the way excitedly to the party, which was being held in a large banquet hall by the U of Bevelle campus—and this location was the _only_ reason Yuna agreed to go, being that it was a school-related party versus a house party.

With her yellow heels clamoring loudly on the floor beneath them, Rikku half-ran, half-danced toward the door, her huge mask somehow staying on her face, while Yuna found herself having tremendous difficulties with her smaller mask. Loud music was playing from within the door, which Rikku was holding open, a wide smile on her lips.

The lights were dim and people were everywhere, many covered in yellow feathers, and most people masked, just Yuna and Rikku were. A peppy song played on the radio, and Rikku immediately started to dance, making her way toward the dance floor.

Yuna found herself standing back, realizing immediately that this wasn't something she was used to at all. People were grinding up against each other, and it was just as her father had described it: gaudy. Rikku's dress was gaudy, everybody's apparel was gaudy. Yuna found herself looking down at herself, her vision slightly blurred by the yellow feathers from her mask. She was definitely dressed the classiest.

She suddenly felt hands placed delicately on her shoulder, and she jumped, letting out a gasp as she did so, and quickly turned around, only to see none other than Tidus, who, like her, was wearing a mask. Unlike her, though, he was wearing a smile.

He seemed a tad shorter than she remembered him, but she instantly reminded herself that she had large heels on. She was also happy to see that he had bulked up a little, and she found herself smiling at this thought.

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you!" he said, his smile still wide.

"You've been looking for me?" Yuna found herself saying, her voice feeling tiny compared to the loud music that was playing in the background.

"Of course," he said, his smile fading. "I came all the way here, didn't I?"

Yuna found herself shrugging, a feeling of confusion spreading across her. It was then that she realized something. Rikku must have set it up! She looked behind her quickly, looking for Rikku. Rikk was nowhere to be found.

With a smile growing on her lips, she said, "Did Rikku set this up?"

"Who?" Tidus asked.

"Rikku!" Yuna said a little louder.

Tidus just let out what almost sounded like a nervous laugh, and he said, "Anyway, let's dance." He took Yuna's hand in his, and led her toward the dance floor, where they started to dance. Despite the fact that she'd never been one for dancing, and despite the fact that she was still feeling a little confused, Yuna couldn't help but dance. Her heart was beating quickly, and she knew it wasn't because she was tired from dancing. She continually stole glances at Tidus, hoping that with the mask on, it wasn't as obvious. There was something different about him, and she realized after a few glances that his hair was styled a little differently, and not as blonde. She found herself giggling slightly to herself, wondering if his hair was actually dyed, and he hadn't been keeping it up.

A very tall guy suddenly broke between the two, and he smiled at both Tidus and Yuna and said, "Hey, can I steal your date for a dance?"

Panic lit Yuna's face. She didn't want to leave Tidus.

She opened her mouth to say that she didn't want to, but Tidus spoke first, and said, "No, go ahead." Tidus smiled, and said, "I'll meet you over by the entrance, okay?"

"Sure," Yuna said, her voice extremely small. The tall guy smiled widely at her, but his smile faded as he realized that Yuna's eyes hadn't left her previous dance partner.

"If you don't want to…" the guy said in a small voice.

"Oh, no, it's fine," Yuna said, although she was having trouble taking her eyes off of the blitzball player, who had now disappeared into the crowd.

Yuna attempted to dance, but she found that it wasn't coming as naturally as it had earlier. Whereas earlier she'd been hoping that the music would never stop, so that she could dance with Tidus forever, she found herself wishing that it would end. She wanted to find him again.

Luckily for her, after just about a minute of dancing, her partner suddenly turned around. Yuna glanced past his shoulder, only to see Tidus again. Only this time, Tidus didn't have a mask on.

"Mind if I steal your partner?" Tidus said, his smile wide.

"Uh, no, of course not," the guy said, and he gave him a confused look, and then looked back at Yuna.

"I can't dance long," Tidus said, as they started. "I'm actually here on a mission. But hey, we can meet up later if you want. Mind if I have your number?"

"You already have it…" Yuna said, as her body stopped dancing.

"Wait a minute…" Tidus said then, and he lifted off her mask. "Yuna?"

"Of course it's me!" Yuna cried, snatching her mask back from Tidus. "Who did you think I was?"

"I didn't think you went to these kinds of things!" Tidus said, and he suddenly appeared rather angry. "Anyway, I'm not here for you."

Yuna felt herself stop breathing. How could he say something like that to her?

"What, did you mistake me for someone?" Yuna demanded.

"Well, kind of," Tidus said, and then his features softened. "Oh, damn, look Yuna, it's not about a girl. I'm here for something else. But I saw you, and thought you were cute, so I came to dance with you. I didn't know it was you."

"But you saw me at the entrance… and you said you were looking for me."

Tidus gave her a confused look, and he said, "Uh, yeah, whatever. Anyway, I have to go." Tidus stopped then, and Yuna followed his gaze, only to have her eyes widen at what she saw.

Hand-in-hand, and walking toward the exit, was none other than Lenne and… Tidus?

Yuna's eyes instantly flicked back to Tidus, who was still standing just a little ways away from her, watching as Lenne and the other Tidus went toward the door.

"Ah, so he's with Lenne," Tidus said, laughing. "That figures."

"Oh Yevon," Yuna said, covering her mouth with her hands. "You have a twin brother?"

"Yeah right Yuna!" Tidus cried. "We don't look _that _much alike! He's like three inches shorter than me! And uglier too. His eyes aren't nearly as blue as mine. And he's such a whiner. Lenne couldn't get the real thing, so she had to go after him." Tidus let out a loud laugh.

"I don't understand…" Yuna said, shaking her head. "Who is he?"

"My cousin," Tidus said. "Oh, you must have danced with him! You really didn't know?"

"You didn't know that you were dancing with me!" Yuna said in her defense.

Tidus laughed and said, "That's true."

"Wait, were you ever with Lenne?" Yuna asked.

"Hell no," came Tidus' response.

"So the guy I saw kissing Lenne… was…"

"Shuyin," Tidus answered. "Anyway, see you around Yuna. There's a new video game that I was actually on my way to buy."

"Tidus wait," Yuna said, her voice very strong, unlike it had been earlier that night.

Tidus stopped and turned around, and gave her a rather generic "what?" kind of look.

"So you were never with Lenne?"

Tidus let out a soft laugh, and he said, "No. Did you think I was?"

"Yes. But it must have been Shuyin I saw…"

"Yeah, he's a dick that goes around messing stuff up. I'd say there's a good chance it was him."

"When do the play-offs start?" Yuna asked then, her voice growing weak again.

"This weekend. You gonna be there?"

"I don't know."

"It's versus Luca. You can come and watch me kick Shuyin's ass. We're ranked fourth, you know. They're like seventh. Everyone thought we'd end up in like ninth place, but we're in the top five."

"That's good to hear," Yuna said.

"Yeah, but Luca's tough," Tidus said, shaking his head. "For some reason, we're having a real hard time with them this year." He laughed then, his smile bright on his lips, and he said, "Well, the video game store is probably closed. You wanna hang out?"

Yuna instantly opened her mouth to say something, just as her eyes lit, but she felt her smile slowly fade. "I don't know if that would be a good idea," she finally managed.

Tidus face fell too, and he said, "Yeah, I guess you probably have stuff going on anyway."

"I do, actually," Yuna felt herself lie.

"Right, yeah, me too and all," Tidus said. "But hey, it was nice to talk to you again."

Yuna felt like saying something, but no words came to her mind. She didn't know what she was doing. She had no reason to be mad at Tidus, she really didn't. It had all been a misunderstanding. Even so, she thought about the fact that it had been a mutual breakup. Perhaps he wanted her back?

Tidus seemed to sense her internal warfare, for he said, "Sorry I mistook you in there. You really caught my eye."

"Tidus," Yuna said, as her lips formed into a smile, "your flirting isn't going to do anything."

"This isn't flirting," Tidus said, laughing and rolling his eyes. "I'm over that, you know."

"Over flirting?" Yuna asked. "What were you doing dancing with me then?"

Tidus bit his lip childishly and looked to the side to show that he was in thought. Then he said, "Okay, so maybe I was flirting _then_. But it's hard to kick a habit instantly, you know."

Yuna rolled her eyes, and she said, "So you're telling me that you're done with girls?"

"Pretty much," Tidus said. "Well, for now, anyway. I could be leaving a week from tomorrow, you know, depending on how the play-off games go."

Yuna felt her face fall. She had completely forgotten about that.

"So yeah, see ya around," Tidus said, and with that, he started strutting off toward the door.

Yuna stood there, watching him go, her mind surprisingly blank. He seemed so cool and collected, unlike he had earlier in the year. She remembered hearing that he'd been scoring more. It was good to hear, and Yuna could sense that it made him more confident.

She wanted to chase after him, and to tell him that everything had been a big misunderstanding and that she wanted him back, but she knew she couldn't do that. He's was done with girls, after all. Her heart fell more as she thought about him in Zanarkand, surrounded by the Zanarkand girls. She knew him too well to know that he wouldn't give back into the temptation.

With that as her last thought, she closed her eyes, and turned around, and went back toward the party, wondering where Rikku was.


	15. Unexpected Battle

Wow. This is probably by far the longest chapter. Oh, and also, it's not the last chapter! I was going to try to fit everything into this chapter, but I found I couldn't. Haha. It was long enough without the rest!

I'm also sorry for the late update. I've actually been really busy! I worked on this story whenever I got the chance… whew, I'm glad to be finished with this chapter! It was really hard to write, because sooooo much happens! It spans three days, and it's all about the play-off series. Talk about a tiring series, both in real life and in this story! Ugh. Haha!

Anyway though, enjoy! And don't be afraid to leave me a review. I'm worried that you guys don't like it! I'm sorry there's not much fluff and stuff in it. I'm really having a hard time with fluff these days…

Enjoy!

**Chapter 15: Unexpected Battle**

"I cannot believe we're going into double overtime," Tidus said, as he grabbed his water bottle and squirted most of it down his back. He was doing his best to keep from panting, but he was having a hard time. He was _exhausted_. The worst thing was, he was faring better than anyone else, and he'd been out there the most.

"I can't believe we've played nearly two hours worth of game time, and the score's still zero to zero," Datto said breathlessly at his side.

"Alright, listen up," the coach said, his voice quivering slightly. He was nervous. And he had every right to be. The refs had been on Luca's side all night long, just as everybody had predicted. "The refs aren't calling anything, and Luca's going to take advantage of that. Take care of yourself. How are you faring Jassu?"

Jassu, who had taken a very illegal hitting earlier on in the game, just nodded, and said, "I'm fine."

"We don't need any of you getting hurt," the coach continued. "Not now. Keep your wits about you. It's sudden death overtime, and if we can win this game, that gives us no pressure for tomorrow's game."

He went over a few quick ideas for a plan, but Tidus couldn't listen. His heart was pounding, and the noise was throbbing in his ears. How could the refs make such horrid calls? Actually, it was the lack of calls that was bothersome. Jassu could have been seriously hurt, but Luca hadn't been called at all.

"Okay, get out there and win!" the coach yelled. The guys got off the benches in wearisome manners, and Tidus wondered how much longer any of the guys—both his own team and Luca's team—could continue. They were all exhausted.

Tidus' line went out first. Tidus had been moved back to left-wing, and only played center on power-plays, which ended up working better for them. It definitely worked out better for Tidus, who'd managed to score a few more goals than he had originally, as well as pick up on more assists.

Just as Tidus dove into the pool though to start the double overtime, an unmistakable shrill of a whistle went off. Tidus turned around, only to see one of the refs arguing with his coach.

"What's going on?" Datto asked, looking nervous. "What did he call?"

The ref turned away from the Basilisk bench and started toward the penalty box.

"Are you shitting me?" Datto and Tidus called out at the same time as they saw what the ref was calling.

"Too many men in the pool?" Tidus cried. "How the hell can they call that?"

The audience began to boo loudly, for it was indeed a horrible, horrible call.

"If this costs us the game, I'm taking out that ref," Tidus cried. Just the same, he started back toward the bench, for his coach had called a time-out.

"Okay, the refs have it out for us, we knew that coming in," the coach said, his voice quivering from his anger despite his attempts to keep himself calm. "I'm going to throw out Tidus and Letty, Blappa and Eigaar. Get out there and defend that net like you've never defended it before!"

The guys headed back into the pool, and Tidus swam up to Letty quickly.

"I know what Coach said," Tidus said quickly, "but when that ball gets to me, I'm taking it and I'm just gonna go for it."

"Dude, that goalie has you down," Letty said. "He knows exactly how to stop every shot you take."

It was true. Tidus had yet to score on Luca's goalie for the season, and the goalie—who was just a mere freshman, but very good—knew Tidus to a tee. It was probably Shuyin who'd told him.

"Follow me," Tidus said then. "But I'm gonna take the shot."

"Right, because everybody wants the game-winner," Letty said, letting out a bitter laugh.

"What?" Tidus just said, but Letty didn't hear him, for the ref's whistle cut him off, signaling that it was time for the faceoff.

Tidus got in position, across from Shuyin, knowing that if he didn't get that faceoff, he'd have a much harder time going about his plan.

Shuyin gave him a smirk, and with that, the ball flew into the air. Tidus jumped up, and reached as far as he could, his tongue poking just a little out of his mouth in concentration.

He felt his fingers scrape the ball, but to his utter dismay, Shuyin managed to grasp it from him.

Tidus didn't have time to feel disappointment or remorse: he had to get on defense.

He swam backwards immediately, and watched Shuyin intently. Shuyin attempted to nudge through Tidus, and did a quick circle, and prepared to pass. He never got the chance though, for seeing the perfect opportunity, Tidus quickly pried the ball out of Shuyin's fingers, and swam quickly toward the other side of the arena.

With the crowd's screams ringing in his ears, his heart pumping faster and faster, and Letty coming up on the other side of the pool, Tidus swam faster and faster. He stopped himself to get into position to score, his arms almost shaking from the adrenaline. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Letty was perhaps in a better position than he himself was.

Without thinking, Tidus tossed the ball to Letty, who quickly one-timed it, kicking it straight into the net.

Letty turned around to face Tidus, a huge smile on his face. Tidus' face lit into a smile as well, and he pushed himself through the goalie to hug Letty, and ended up toppling over the goalie and into the net.

The Basilisks had won!

The whole team jumped off the bench to celebrate, and Tidus felt endless bodies of his teammates flinging onto him as they hugged him and patted his shoulders and head. The poor goalie managed to escape from the group, and he along with the Lucan team was out of sight before long.

Gippal managed to get through Tidus, and he cried, his voice happy, "Why the hell didn't you take the shot? You worked for it! That could have been your goal! You would have been ten million times more famous than you are now!"

"Letty was in a better position!" Tidus just said, his smile wide on his lips.

"I could kiss you right now!" Gippal said, ruffling his friend's hair.

"Go for it!" Tidus just said, and puckered his lips.

"Save that for a girl," Gippal just said, pushing his friend. "Come on, let's get to the locker room!"

They swam out of the pool, and past both Keepa and Letty, both of whom were being interviewed.

Tidus rushed into the locker room, his smile still bright on his lips, and it felt like a hundred guys came to greet him.

He felt endless pats on the back and on his head, just as he had in the pool. He scrunched his nose, a trait that he often did when he was congratulated.

"Tidus man, they wanted you out there!" Letty's voice was heard then, as he walked into the locker room, his smile still bright. "You got the number two star of the game."

"Number two?" Tidus said. "Should I still go?"

"No, it's over now," Letty said. "But whatever. Awesome set-up man!"

"You're the one that put it in!" Tidus said, cheering up again.

The two hit knuckles, their smiles still wide on their faces.

The coach came in then, and hushed the team down, as they were quite loud with their cheers.

"Alright guys," he said, "we just gotta win tomorrow. And if we don't win tomorrow, at least we still have Sunday. This is best out of three."

"We know," Tidus said, laughing.

"Tidus, why the hell were you MIA during the three stars recognition?" the coach asked then, looking a little angry.

"I forgot all about it," Tidus said. "Sorry Coach."

The coach simply walked up and patted Tidus on the head and said, "That could have been the last time you'll ever get a star of the game as a Basilisk."

"Aw, he'll get more!" Letty said quickly.

"Yeah, like tomorrow!" Tidus piped in.

The coach simply smiled at them, told them to get some rest, since the guys were all exhausted—although they weren't acting like it after their big win. The coach left then to go do some interviews. The guys were quiet until he left, but as soon as the door shut, they all started talking again.

"Alright, who's going to the bars?" Clasko said quickly.

"I'm in," Jassu said.

"Me too," Datto said, looking excited.

"Count me in," Gippal said softly from Tidus' side.

"Hey, wait a minute guys!" Tidus said quickly, just as other guys started to add that they'd be going too. "We have a game tomorrow. It's ten o'clock already! Shouldn't we all just go home? We need rest!"

"You go home and sleep," Clasko said as he picked up his gear bag. Baby his voice, he added, "Shee you in the morning Tidey!"

"Some captain you make!" Tidus just yelled at him.

"Just let it go," Gippal said quickly to Tidus.

"Aw, shut up. You're no better than him," Tidus just said, his eyes glaring at Gippal.

"Hey, it's okay, we can go play that new blitz game," Letty cut in, apparently sensing that Tidus was about to get angry. "Let them go."

"Let, this isn't about me not being able to go!" Tidus cried, his voice slightly whiny. "We have a super important game tomorrow."

"Tidus," Gippal said, putting his hand on Tidus' shoulder, "we won't be out long, okay? I promise."

"Like your promise means anything to me," Tidus just sneered.

"You want to talk about promises?" Gippal suddenly said, looking angry.

"When have I ever broken a promise?" Tidus asked, getting closer to Gippal. By now all of the guys were watching them with wide eyes.

"Maybe freshman year when you promised me you wouldn't sign."

"I didn't go, did I? I told you I'd stay until I was a junior. Here I am Gippal!"

"You only stayed because of your girlfriend," Gippal said, narrowing his eyes.

To this, Tidus just shook his head, a slight smile prying on his lips.

"Go to hell, Gip," he said then, and brushed past his friend. "Come on Letty, let's go play that game."

Letty shrugged at the guys and followed Tidus, who had gone stomping out of the room, and who, by the time Letty reached the hallway, was already flying out the door.

Tidus stopped, however, as did Letty when he reached him, for newspaper and television interviewers were standing out there, as if waiting for them.

"We're exhausted," Letty said before the media could even start talking. "Can you let us go through?"

"Why didn't you take that goal?" Tidus heard the voices say to him anyway. "What made you pass it? What if that would have been your last goal as a Basilisk? Why didn't you go out to get your recognition as the second star of the game? What if that was—."

Tidus managed to drone most of their voices out as he and Letty simply pushed past them. Under normal circumstances, Tidus would have stopped to talk, but he wasn't in the mood.

The two reached their cars, and a couple of girls who were on their way to the bars stopped. Tidus didn't recognize them, but Letty apparently did.

"Awesome goal Letty!" the cooed. "Come to the bars with us! Please?"

"Tidus can come too!"

"We're not in the mood," Letty answered, but Tidus sensed some desire in his friend's eyes to join them.

"Go ahead," Tidus said, his voice bland. "You might as well. Everybody else is."

"Come too," Letty said. "Any bar in town will let you in."

"No, it's okay," Tidus said. "See you tomorrow."

"Alright…" Letty said, but Tidus shut the door to his car before Letty could say anymore, and tiredly, he trudged home, knowing that his entire team would be out until the wee hours of the morning.

-

"What the hell happened out there?" the coach sneered, his voice harsh, his eyes full of disbelief. "Yeah, you guys managed to make it into overtime, but I have no idea how."

"Allow me to share what happened," Tidus said, his voice coming out stronger than he'd imagined it to. "We lost tonight, because all of these bozos decided to go out and party last night."

"Tidus!" Clasko cried, and most of the guys let out low moans of dismay, for it was common knowledge that they weren't supposed to be going out, despite the fact that they did after nearly every game.

The coach pressed his mouth together, forming a thin line.

"I want all of you to go to bed," he said then, his voice rather soft. "And I want one hundred-ten percent out there tomorrow. Do you want this or not?"

"And if you don't want it," Tidus said, his voice very soft, "think about the guys that do."

Clasko, who had looked ready to kill Tidus the entire time, suddenly allowed his face to relax, as did most of the guys on the team.

"We have been selfish, haven't we?" Jassu's voice was heard then.

"Yeah," Letty immediately agreed with him.

Gippal let out a soft "hmph," and he began to nod.

Then, Gippal let out what almost sounded like a chuckle, and he said, "Hell, we've been more than selfish. We've been _monsters_. Arrogant, selfish monsters. We've been prancing around thinking we're Yevon ourselves, just 'cause we're blitzers. And this whole time, the only one not doing this has been Tidus. And he's the one who's _signed_. He's the one who has the right to prance around. Let's at least win it for him."

"Not for me," Tidus cut in quickly. "I don't deserve it. I'm not an angel either. But let's win it for all the people out there who want us to win. It's entertainment after all, right? And they're paying for this. They want us to win. Let's win it for them."

"And for the seniors!" piped in Blappa, the freshman.

"And the guys who won't be here next year," Letty added. "Mainly Tidus and Gippal, I guess."

Gippal's face suddenly looked shocked, and Tidus saw this shock first hand, for his whipped his head to the side to look at his friend.

"What?" Tidus said, his voice somewhat loud. "What about Gippal?"

"You don't know?" Letty just said, appearing shocked.

"Guys, this is touching and all," the coach interrupted, and he stood there, rubbing his temples, "but I think it's time to head out. It's late and I don't need a bunch of your tired asses here tomorrow. We have a very important game to win."

"Right," the guys said, and they all began to gather their bags, and many headed out. Soon, all that was left was Tidus and Gippal, who were still staring at each other with shocked expressions on their faces.

"What did he mean?" Tidus finally asked.

"Ti, what does it matter?" Gippal just said, as he gathered his bag and slung it on his shoulder. "You'll be gone."

"Where are you going? Did you get signed?" Tidus asked.

"Tidus, I'm graduating," Gippal said then, his voice flat.

"What? You're only a junior!"

"When I found out you were thinking about leaving as a sophomore," Gippal said, his eyes downcast, "I started taking summer classes and stuff. I graduate this spring."

"I don't get it," Tidus said.

"I graduate, Ti. I'm getting my diploma, and I'm outta here."

"Where are you gonna go?"

"For now, back to Bikanel."

"Why Gip?" Tidus said, his face looking rather sad. "You can live the dream for one more year! Why wouldn't you?"

"I'm not playing!" Gippal said. "I'm not gonna get drafted. What's the point? I have to move on with my life. Besides, let's face it, the way we knew it is gone. I've even already hooked up some of the new freshman with our house."

"I thought I'd come back and visit…" Tidus said, his eyes meeting the ground.

"We have to move on," Gippal said with a shrug. "Now come on, let's just win tomorrow. Then we'll go to the national tournament."

"What does it matter?" Tidus just said then, his eyes on the ground. "You're right, we have to move on. It's all over…"

"Don't do this again," Gippal said, glaring at his friend. "Isn't this what you pulled last year? This whole "Yevon, I'll never play here again!" crap?"

"Start chewing again or something Gip, you're far too crabby," Tidus just said, and with a sigh, he grabbed his bag. "I don't want things to change. I really like it here."

"You always have the option of not going," Gippal said.

"Yeah, but what would be the point if you're not gonna stay?" Tidus just asked.

Gippal laughed, and he said, "Stop thinking about it. Just focus on the game tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever," Tidus just mumbled.

-

"Yunie, you decided to come!" Rikku cried, and she flung her arms around her cousin, pulling Yuna into a surprise embrace. "I was wondering if you would! You've missed a good series! Although the reffing has been horrible. But I guess that's to be expected, huh?"

"Yeah…" Yuna just said, as she took her seat next to Rikku. "I guess I've kind of missed it."

"I knew you would!" Rikku said. "Well, this is going to be a good game. No doubt about it!"

Yuna just smiled a wry smile and said, "I hope so."

-

"This is going to be another long game," Datto said as soon as he took a spot on the bench in the locker room. For the third night in a row, the game was going into overtime.

"Isn't there anything we can do about these lame-ass calls?" Jassu said, a look of disgust coming across his face. "They're _giving _Luca the game."

"And that's why we have to hang in there," the coach said, his hair seeming to appear grayer than it had at the beginning of the weekend. "Do whatever you can out there."

"You were taking a lot of bad hits out there…" Gippal said, turning his attention to Tidus.

"Shuyin's a tad stronger than I remember him being," Tidus said, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry about me though, I'll hang in there."

"Dude, what gives? You haven't even hit him back," Gippal said.

"I'm not going to play dirty," Tidus simply said.

"Why the hell not? You're _Tidus_, _the _scrappiest player in the league. Get out there and play like you used to!"

Tidus let out a sigh, and he said, "Gip, I can't do that. I can't hit him. I can't hit anybody. Well, I can hit, but you know, only legally. I don't want to get a penalty."

"Whatever man," Gippal just said with a sigh. "You're looking good out there otherwise."

"I want this so bad," Tidus just answered, and he looked at his friend, his face completely serious.

Gippal just nodded, and pat his friend on the back. "I think we all do, now."

-

The ball flew up in the air, and Tidus quickly beat Shuyin to it. He'd been watching Shuyin, after all, and he knew exactly how to get to the ball first.

Grabbing the ball fluidly, Tidus shoved his way past Shuyin, and then past the shocked defense, and swam as quickly as he could toward the goal.

Luca's defense, however, regained themselves, and soon they had Tidus surrounded. He felt them press their bodies against him, sandwiching him, right before he crashed into the goalie. The ball rolled out of his fingers, and from the corner of his eye, he saw the ball land just slightly into the net.

Before he could free himself from the defenders, the goalie quickly grabbed the ball and grabbed it, and the refs blew their whistle to stop play. The refs took the ball from the goalie, and started off as if they were to set up another faceoff. The Basilisks all stood there, looking confused.

"What's wrong, Tidus?" Shuyin said, and Tidus noticed he looked a little shaken up, despite his attempt at playing it cool. "You didn't think that ball actually went in, did you?"

"But it did…" Tidus just said, not ashamed to show his confusion. He turned away from Shuyin, and swam quickly toward the ref that was holding the ball.

"Hey, that was a goal!" Tidus found himself crying, his confusion gone. He knew what was going on. The refs were just going to _ignore _it.

"It didn't cross the line," the ref said.

"Are you kidding?" Tidus cried. "It was in! I saw it go in! I _felt _it go in!"

The ref simply shook his head, and said, "It's not up for debate."

"Not up for debate?" Tidus cried, and he looked behind him, as if looking for support. Hadn't _anybody _seen it? He heard boos in the audience though, which reassured him. They too, agreed.

"It was in," Tidus said, his tone very sure. "Review it."

"Don't talk to me that way," the ref, and Tidus realized then that it was the same ref that he had slammed out of the pool on accident years prior, said. "Don't make me give you a penalty."

"For what? Calling you out on your lame-ass calls?"

"Tidus!" the coach roared before Tidus could even say anything.

Tidus turned around to face his bench, and started toward it.

"That was a goal, Coach!" Tidus said as he returned to the bench.

"I know, I know," the coach said. "But I can understand why they'd call it off."

"They could have at least reviewed it!" Tidus argued. "Who wants to take the refs out back after this game?"

"Focus on the game," the coach just said, and he began to pace.

Tidus took a deep breath, and attempted to do just that. Still, he felt the adrenaline pumping. The game could end at any second. Swear words popped into his head. The game should have been _over_. He scored, after all!

Soon his line was back out in the pool.

Tidus swam out quickly to get the ball, eager to get another scoring opportunity.

With his heart pumping, he went to get the faceoff, his eyes on Shuyin, whose eyes were back on him.

"You're lucky the ref didn't give you a penalty," Shuyin sneered.

"You're lucky the refs are on your side and didn't count that goal like they should've," Tidus said back.

"You're lucky—," Shuyin started, but Tidus cut him off.

"You know what Shuyin?" Tidus said quickly. "I'm sick of you. I'm sick of playing against you. Win or lose today, I hope I never have to play against you again. And I probably won't have to. You'll be stuck here for four years, and I'll be in Zanarkand."

"Oh, shove off," Shuyin just said, looking annoyed. "Luca's looking at me."

"Yeah, whatever. You're how old?" Tidus just said, rolling his eyes.

Shuyin scrunched his nose, and he said, "I'm better than you're giving me credit for being."

"Even so," Tidus said, narrowing his eyes at his cousin, "you'll always be in my shadow."

The ball flew in the air then, and Tidus caught it with ease, for Shuyin seemed rather taken aback.

Regaining himself though, Shuyin swam up to Tidus, and hit him very illegally hard in the back, knocking the wind out of him. The ball slipped out of Tidus' hands, and Luca's left-wing, Bickson, grabbed the ball, and passed it to Shuyin.

Tidus' vision slowly came back, just in time to see Shuyin swimming toward the goal. Tidus felt his gut sink.

Shuyin shot the ball, but Keepa caught it. Tidus felt himself smile, and he started swimming toward the goal to join the rest of his team on defense. Keepa held onto the ball, waiting for a whistle. The whistle never came though.

Shuyin grabbed the ball from Keepa then, and literally dragged it into the goal.

Tidus stopped, as did his entire team, as the Luca players began to hug, yelling loudly. Tidus' eyes darted to the refs. How could that be a legal goal?

To his surprise though, the refs were motioning that it was indeed a goal.

The game was over, and the Basilisks had lost. The season was over.


	16. Expected After All

Ah, the final chapter. This chapter spans eleven pages and is 6,000 words. XD I suppose you could say I got a little carried away! I could have even split it into two chapters, but I couldn't choose a stopping place.

So, here it is, the final chapter, all 6,000 words of it! ENJOY!

**Chapter 16: Expected After All**

"A letter's being sent to the board, but otherwise, there's nothing we can do," the coach said, his voice very, very soft. "This was our year, but we lost it."

"It's not the first time those refs have screwed us," Clasko's voice was heard. He sounded as defeated as everybody else.

Tidus sat in the corner, completely silent. His eyes were on the floor in front of him, his back against his locker. The next day, he'd have to come and clean out that locker. It would never belong to him again.

His jersey hung on him loosely, and was only damp, despite the fact that he'd just left the pool not too long ago. The thirty-seven on the back of the jersey seemed to be burning into his back. He was certain that if he took his jersey off, there would be a thirty-seven permanently burned on. But that was okay with him. He never wanted to forget about it. Even so, he'd never be thirty-seven again. Ever. He couldn't. It was his college number.

Gippal was sitting silently at his side. Tidus found himself glancing over at his friend, wondering if he was thinking the same thoughts that he was.

All of the adrenaline and the anger that Tidus had felt just moments before was gone. He felt different than he had last year, too, despite the fact that he thought last year would be his last year. Maybe a part of him had always known the year before that he would come back. Or maybe it was the fact that the loss was much more disappointing than it had been the year before, and this time, he was sitting in his home locker room, not in his hometown's locker room.

"Well, you're all free to go," the coach said then, his voice suddenly bringing Tidus back to the moment. "Remember, we'll all have a meeting on Tuesday."

"Uh, Coach," Tidus found himself piping in. "I'm—."

"We know, Tidus," the coach said, and he let out a low sigh.

The guys all looked at Tidus, who in return looked back at them. They'd been his teammates for so long, and it even seemed at that moment as if he'd been playing with them his entire life.

"Well, hey, call us sometime," Letty said, and he gave a smile.

"Yeah, I'll come back and visit in like June," Tidus said, giving the team a smile in return.

"Yeah, that'd be cool," it was Jassu who spoke this time.

"Yeah, we'll all have to get together," it was Clasko who spoke this time, and he looked quite serious.

"Yeah, it'll be a good time," Tidus said, feeling almost awkward. "I'll be twenty-one by that time, so… let's party it up."

The guys all just nodded slowly.

Tidus forced a small smile then, and he said, "I'm really gonna miss you guys."

The guys all just smiled and nodded. Sure, Tidus knew that some were going to miss him more than others, but it didn't matter: he himself was going to truly miss them. Even Datto, who he'd actually grown rather close to.

"Dude, we can hang out sometime yet, right?" Datto's voice was suddenly heard.

"Yeah, of course. I don't leave 'til Tuesday morning."

"I'll cut class and we'll hang out," Datto said quickly.

Tidus laughed, and he said, "Yeah, do that."

The guys all said their goodbyes then, and walked out. Although no one said anything, Tidus knew they were going to head off to the bars. Soon, it was just Tidus and Gippal left in the locker room.

"So Wakka's throwing a party for you on Monday," Gippal asked, as soon as they were alone. "I'm supposed to tell you."

"Great," Tidus just said, his eyes still downcast. "But what's really the point?"

"Hey, you were a really liked member of the team," Gippal said. "And you should have had this A." He pointed to the "A" on his jersey.

Tidus swallowed, and he just shrugged. "I guess in the end," Tidus said, "it wasn't all that important anyway, huh?"

"Sorry you had such a sucky year," Gippal said, looking at the ground to avoid Tidus' eyes.

"Eh, it wasn't that bad," Tidus just said, shrugging. "We did better than I thought we would. It just sucks that the reffing was so bad."

"Yeah, it does," Gippal agreed. "You're right, we did get screwed."

"Gip, I feel like shit," Tidus said then. "I don't want to go. I don't want to leave everybody."

"By everybody, who exactly do you mean?" Gippal asked, giving Tidus a suspicious look. "Me? The guys?"

"Everybody," Tidus said, giving Gippal a confused look in return. "Anybody and everybody that I ever came into contact with."

"And Yuna?"

"Yuna?" Tidus just said, looking dumbly at Gippal.

"Your one and only girlfriend."

"Yeah, her too," Tidus said. "I'll miss her too."

Gippal just smiled, and he said, "It's not too late to fix things with her."

"You think I want to fix things with her?" Tidus cried then. "Yevon Gip, you don't know me at all."

"I don't want you to not fix things before you leave," Gippal said. "You were in love with her at one time."

"What is love anyway?" Tidus just said, and he angrily gathered his bag. "I don't understand it."

"Yeah, I know you don't," Gippal said, throwing on a smile. "What about Elma? You just going to leave her?"

"No, she'll be at my going away party, I'd assume," Tidus said.

"And what will you do if she confesses her love to you?" Gippal asked, raising his eyebrows.

To this, Tidus gave Gippal a smile, and he said, "She won't. Trust me, Gip. She won't."

-

Yuna's hands were trembling. She was sitting on the cool stool in her kitchen, her cereal growing soggy by the second. She couldn't move though, for she had no control over her shivering body. The newspaper that she was holding rocked back and forth in her unsteady hands, and the words were slowly blurring together by tears that had formed in Yuna's eyes.

She didn't know why she was crying, and she didn't know why she was shaking. Well, she had an idea, but she didn't understand why she was reacting like she was.

On the front page of the Sports section, there was a story about Tidus, and how he would be leaving that very afternoon.

She knew it was going to happen. She'd known for all-too long that it was going to happen. He was going to leave, and forget all about her, if he hadn't already. And she knew she had to forget about him, but she _couldn't_.

She'd tried—oh how she'd tried! She'd done everything in her power to forget about him. Even so, she couldn't. True, she hadn't gone to quite a few of the Basilisks' last games, but that didn't mean she didn't watch them. She watched them on the sphere every time they were on. She'd sat mindlessly and watched Tidus' after-game interviews, her eyes on him, her mind wondering how she'd let him slip out of her life.

Even now, reading his words in the newspaper, looking at the picture of him smiling after scoring a goal… She just couldn't believe she'd let him slip out. She'd had him. Just a matter of months, literally weeks, even literally days! ago, she'd had him. He was hers, and she was his. How could she have let him go?  
To make matters worse, she saw number thirty-sevens _everywhere_. Every day driving to class, she passed a sign that marked "37 miles". She'd checked her e-mail just moments before reading the newspaper only to find that she had thirty-seven e-mails in her inbox. Even as she glanced at the time, she realized it was 8:37. The sphere was playing in the background, and she was shocked to hear a commercial say "Just thirty-seven minutes". She was beginning to think that she was hallucinating.

The stories about Tidus that Rikku had told her still played in her head. She had grown to realize that there was so much more to Tidus underneath his cocky shell. He was shy. He was sheepish. He was sweet. All of those things that meant so much to her, and she'd been unable to see it when she was dating him!

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She knew the reason.

The entire time she dated Tidus, she was constantly concerned with over-idealizing him. She wanted him to be innocent and sweet, but she told herself that as a blitzball player, he couldn't be. She wanted him to be shy and sheepish, but as a star blitzball player, he couldn't be. Everything she wanted him to be, she convinced himself that he couldn't be it, and that she was simply trying to idealize him.

But he _was_ ideal. He really was. And she let him go.

Finally, Yuna let out a loud sigh and put the newspaper down. She dumped her soggy cereal into the garbage then. After all, she'd completely lost her appetite.

With her head in a haze, she drove to class, and had to do everything she could to keep from tearing up again when she passed the "37 mile" sign.

Feeling rather like a stalker, she drove past Tidus and Gippal's house, just to see if he was still home. His car was in the driveway, and the trunk was open, and she saw two suitcases in it. She figured he was in the midst of packing. She contemplated momentarily on stopping, but she couldn't bring herself to do so.

With another loud sigh, she finally turned her attention away from Tidus' house, and she started toward the parking place, remembering all of the times a year ago that she'd seen Tidus around her campus. She didn't see him anymore, but that was because he no longer went out of his way to see her.

It was mutual, after all. Or at least, so she'd thought.

-

"So you're staying at a hotel?" Gippal asked, as he taped up a box of Tidus' belongings.

"Yeah," Tidus said, as he looked at the directions to his hotel that he'd printed out. "The Zanarkand Plaza. I'm pretty sure I know exactly where that is. It's not far from the arena, which is nice, I guess."

"Well, make it to playoffs, and I'll come watch you," Gippal said, smiling. "Otherwise, I've got class."

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Smarty-pants," Tidus just said, as he folded the directions up and stuck them in his pocket. "Are you going to keep that letter from the Dean about me failing for good memories?"

Gippal rolled his eyes at his friend, and said, "Of course. I'll take it with me no matter where I go."

"Thanks," Tidus said, giving his friend a smile. "Rikku helped me frame it, you know. It's my goodbye gift to you."

"Great, that's just what I wanted!" Gippal said, playing along with his friend. "Hey, why am I doing all the packing?"

"Because you're stronger than me," Tidus just said. "And besides, I'm hung-over."

"You are not."

"Am too."

"You didn't even drink last night."

"No, but I still passed out."

"That's because you had the wise idea to throw around that blitzball, and it ricocheted and hit you in the head, moron."

"Yeah, and it knocked me unconscious for like three minutes!" Tidus cried.

"Yes, and because of your little action, you single-handedly ruined your goodbye party. But nothing new there," Gippal said, as he smiled broadly at his friend. "It's how we shall remember you forever. "Oh, Tidus? Wasn't he that bozo that knocked himself out with his own blitzball? How'd he go pro again"'

"Ah, shut-up!" Tidus just said, laughing. "You guys were making me play that boring card game, and I had to deal, and you know I hate dealing! So of course I got bored!"

Gippal just laughed, and he said, "Yeah, of course it's our fault."

"It is!" Tidus just said, his voice coming out happily.

"Hey Tidus," Gippal said then, with a confused look on his face. "Why do you have three jerseys? And why the hell did you sign this one?"

"What are you talking about?" Tidus asked, looking toward his friend. His smile dropped instantly though, as he noticed that Gippal was holding up the vintage thirty-seven jersey that had been auctioned off long ago.

"Oh, that was Yuna's," Tidus just said, and he turned back to the information he'd been sent by his future team manager.

"Yuna's? Oh, I get it…" Gippal said. "Well, I guess I'll just pack it up here with your other jerseys."

Tidus bit his lip, and said, "Actually, uh… keep it, Gip."

"Ti, I love you man, but I don't want your jersey."

"No, I mean… Give it back to Yuna, okay?"

"Give it back to her?"

"Yeah. Tell her that she was the only one that I ever wanted that jersey to go to. Well, like not originally, but now. Tell her it's my gift to her."

"She'll probably burn it," Gippal just said, laughing. "Why would she want a jersey that belonged to her ex-boyfriend? I'm assuming that's why she gave it back to you."

"Trust me Gip," Tidus said, his eyes dimming slightly, "she wants it."

"Is that you being serious, or you being full of yourself?" Gippal asked, and he looked honestly confused.

"You tell me," Tidus just said, and he gave his friend an almost bored look.

"Okay, serious then," Gippal said, and he folded the jersey up and tossed it on the back of the couch. "You think she'll come asking for it." Gippal looked over at Tidus, who was rather silent, and noticed that he was looking for the door. Gippal let out a short laugh, and said, "What, are you expecting her?"

"No," Tidus said, snapping his eyes away from the door. "I wonder if she knows I leave today though."

"It's in the newspaper. If she checks the sports section, that is."

"She probably doesn't," Tidus said. He stood up, and said, "Well, we'd better get this last box packed. I should probably get going."

"Definitely," Gippal agreed, and with that, he gathered up the box he had just taped shut, and started toward Tidus' car with it.

-

Yuna tapped her pencil on her desk, her eyes on her professor. She was trying as hard as she could to stay focused on his lecture, but she _couldn't_. A million thoughts were playing through her head, and she couldn't sort them out, let alone listen to a boring speech on the history of Spiran politics.

She felt her eyes go to the window, and she noticed that there was a drizzle. The weather was quite gray and murky, despite the fact that the sun had been shining rather brightly when she'd first left her house. Normally she'd be sad to see such weather, but at the moment, it didn't matter.

She suddenly sat up as she realized why she was having such a hard time focusing. She felt completely _numb_. She honestly felt that if someone was to punch her, she wouldn't even feel it. There was nothing going on inside of her, except for the reminder that Tidus was leaving, which played over and over in her mind. All of her emotions were gone, and she felt like an empty shell, sitting there, with nothing left inside of it.

In fact, she was possible that if she felt her pulse, she'd find that there was none. Her heart was gone.

She wondered for a while where her heart was. It had to be somewhere, after all. She let out a soft sigh, for she knew where it was. It was with Tidus. She'd given it to him, and he'd 

just kept it, unknowing that he had it. She'd tried to make it obvious. She'd tried so hard to make him aware of the fact that he had it.

Although she had never done this before, Yuna laid her head on her desk, and closed her eyes. He was probably gone, and he'd never return. Unlike last year, he wouldn't return. He'd be gone forever, out of her life. It would only be a matter of time before he'd get a new cell phone, and she would never have that number. Her number would be removed from his phone if it wasn't already.

She closed her eyes tighter. She'd never hear his voice in person again. She'd never see him in person again. She'd never see his smile in person again. She'd never see him outside of blitzball again. Ever.

Her eyes darted to the time. It didn't surprise her that it was 10:37. She wondered if he'd left yet.

Her eyes darted back out the window. His house wasn't far. If he was still there… if he was still there, she could see him one more time. She could possibly see that smile one more time. She could at least hear that voice one more time. She could possibly get that closure that she was beginning to feel she needed. It was something she desperately needed.

Without a word, she scooted her chair backwards, which emitted a loud noise to float through the classroom. Her professor, who was standing at the blackboard, writing something down, suddenly turned to look at her, and annoyed look on his face, as he saw Yuna quickly throwing her notebook into her backpack.

"Going somewhere, Miss Yuna?" he asked, his voice coming out even more nasally and more monotone than when he usually spoke.

"I'm sorry, I have an emergency," Yuna simply responded.

"I was planning on handing out a quiz," he just said, looking rather taken aback, as if he'd never had anyone leave his class before. The class let out moans at his mention of a quiz, but Yuna didn't care. She threw on her coat, pulled out her umbrella, and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Sir," she just said as she started toward the door, "but this seriously is an emergency."

"Alright, suit yourself," the professor just said, and with that, he turned back to the blackboard.

-

"Well, I guess this is it then," Tidus said, as he stood on the front step, right outside of the front door, looking at his car, as if he was dreading getting into it. "I thought maybe the guys would come see me off…"

"You know Wakka would have," Gippal said, giving Tidus a smile. "But he had that test."

"Yeah, I know," Tidus said, and he laughed. "I think he was the saddest."

"You're like his "little brudda!"' Gippal just said, laughing. "Of course he's the saddest! He'll be at the bar tonight, crying."

"I sure hope not," Tidus just said, shaking his head.

"He's gonna come visit you though, like in two weeks."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Tidus said, smiling.

"And if you guys make it to playoffs, Letty and I were talking about taking a trip up to Zanny to watch you play. You'd better show us a good time while we're there!"

"You know I will!" Tidus simply responded, and he threw on a smile. His smile was fleeting though, for it disappeared, and he said, "Man Gip, I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too," Gippal said, nodding.

"We had some real good times, didn't we?"

Gippal laughed, and just nodded his agreement.

"Maybe we were too wild?" Gippal just said, laughing.

To this, Tidus laughed loudly, and said, "Yeah right. We just pretended to be."

"That's true!" Gippal said, laughing loudly as well. "We did a good job though."

"Yeah, we always pretended we partied big, but usually we just went to the mall or something," Tidus laughed.

"Well you always got those strange addictions. Like your milkshake addiction."

Tidus laughed, and said, "You got that graham cracker addiction!"

"I swear those little guys helped me when I was hung over!" Gippal just said, laughing.

"Remember second semester, freshman year when I signed up for all the same classes as you?" Tidus asked, a sly smile growing on his lips.

"Dude, how could I forget?" Gippal just cried. "Remember when you used to talk on the phone during health class? And remember that time when we were going over sexually transmitted diseases, and you pretended like you didn't know what sex was?"

"Yevon, I thought that professor was gonna piss himself!" Tidus cried through his laughter. "He really thought I was serious!"

"Well, if you weren't a blitzer, I'd say you should go into acting!" Gippal just said. The two laughed a little longer, but eventually, silence fell over them.

Tidus glanced at his watch, and he said, "Well, I guess I gotta go. I was planning on driving around the city, you know, just to see it one last time before I leave."

"Yeah, good plan," Gippal said, his face suddenly looking sad. "Fitting weather, too, wouldn't you say?"

Tidus looked at the drizzle, and he chuckled and nodded. "Almost too fitting," he agreed.

"Well, take care man," Gippal said then, nodding at his friend.

"You too."

"Eat right. Don't drink too much. Don't party too much. Don't—."

"I know, I know!" Tidus just said, interrupting his friend.

"I'm just kidding. You're gonna be fine."

Tidus smiled meekly, and said, "Yeah."

"So like, I'd hug you or something, but, you know how it is," Gippal said, letting out a slight laugh.

"Right, we wouldn't want your girlfriend to find out we hugged. She'd flip," Tidus said, laughing as well.

"Hey, toward the end, she really liked you," Gippal said, smiling.

"Yeah, whatever, I was starting to like her too," Tidus agreed. "Anyway, I should really get going."

"Yeah," Gippal said, nodding.

"See ya, Gip."

"Yeah, see ya. Call me when you get there."

"You're not my dad."

"Really? I'm not? Damn, you should have told me that two years ago."

"Shut up, Gip."

Gippal just laughed. "See ya man," he said again.

"See ya."

With that, Tidus climbed into his car, waved girly at his friend, and backed out of the doorway.

Gippal watched him, his green eyes not leaving Tidus' car until it was out of sight. Then, his face fell, and he closed his eyes. It was just like it had been a year ago. Only this time, he knew Tidus wouldn't be coming back.

He swallowed loudly, remembering how lonely the house had been without Tidus the year before, and how lonely it was going to be again.

Gippal turned to go back into the house, but suddenly heard someone approaching the door. His heart lifted momentarily, for he wondered if Tidus had forgotten something, but he realized that he didn't hear Tidus' car.

He turned around, shocked to see Yuna standing there, ducked under a bright umbrella.

"Yuna?" Gippal said, as the girl ran up to him. She was out of breath, her cheeks were red, but otherwise, her face was completely pale.

"Hi Gippal," she said, and he noticed that her mascara had run, either from the rain or tears—he honestly didn't know which it was.

"Um, it's been a while since I saw you," Gippal just said, suddenly feeling awkward.

Yuna, however, cut straight to the chase.

"Is Tidus here?" Yuna asked, her voice sounding a little hopeful.

"You just missed him," Gippal said, his face falling. "I'm sorry."

Yuna's face fell, and if it was possible, even more color drained from her face. She let out a little "oh" that was barely audible.

"Yeah, sorry," Gippal said again. "I can call him. He shouldn't be too far away."

"N-No," Yuna said quickly. "That's alright. I… I guess I didn't really want anything anyway… I just wanted to say goodbye."

Gippal simply nodded, and he looked at the ground, wondering what to say to his friend's ex-girlfriend. His eyes lightened then, and he said, "Oh, just a second!" He ran into the house, and into the living room, where he had left that jersey folded up.

He returned, cradling the jersey in his hands. Yuna's eyes lightened upon seeing it, and he noticed that her cheeks turned red again, in an almost ashamed way.

"Tidus told me he wanted you to have this," Gippal said, handing the shocked Yuna the jersey. "He said something about not wanting anybody but you to have it."

Yuna took it gingerly, and she followed the outline of Tidus' signature like she had multiple times before. The blue thread seemed to gleam, and it was the only color that Yuna's eyes seemed able to pick out.

"Thanks Gippal," she said, smiling meekly. "Well, I didn't meant to bother you…"

"It's fine," Gippal said. "Um, are you gonna be okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Yuna said, and she put on a smile that she hoped didn't come across as too cheesy.

Gippal returned her smile wryly, and Yuna said, "Well, um, see you around, I guess."

"Yeah, definitely," Gippal said back.

Yuna gave him one last smile, and with that, she turned around quickly, and started away from him. She had to, after all. She had to leave before he could see her face, the disappointment in her eyes, along with the tears that were fighting their way to the surface.

She walked slowly toward her campus, her eyes on the ground. That was it. He was gone. She figured she had indeed just missed him, for Gippal had just been standing outside, probably right after seeing Tidus off.

Swallowing loudly, Yuna looked up at the sky. The feeling of numbness was slowly taking over Yuna's body again. It was quite chilly out, but she didn't feel it. She didn't feel the wind that had suddenly picked up, and she didn't feel the freezing drizzle that was being blown onto her. She didn't feel hope, she didn't feel despair. She didn't feel love, she didn't feel hate. She didn't feel happy, but she didn't feel sad. She just felt numb.

She looked down at the jersey that she was cradling to her chest in a sad effort to protect it from the rain. Everything had started with that jersey. How fitting it was that things would also end with that jersey.

If it was true that there was only one right person in the world for her, Yuna knew without a doubt that it was Tidus. He was _the one_. And while she knew that she could be happy with someone else, that someone else could never be _the one_. And she was positive that she could be Tidus' _number one _as well. They just hadn't given each other the chance.

It explained so much though. She thought back to a little over a year ago, when she first received the jersey that was now hanging limply in her arm. She felt a pull toward Tidus immediately, from the first time she saw him. She hadn't been the same after meeting him, and she knew that she never would be the same. The old Yuna had died right then and there, when he'd first put his arm around her. Now she'd been reborn, but she was quickly dying again. The new Yuna needed him.

She felt her eyes cloud up with tears again, and she attempted to brush them off. She was now at the outskirts of her campus, after having walked completely through it.

There were no people around, for school was still in session. There were no cars on the streets, either. It was empty.

That was, until she was coming up to the crosswalk.

She looked up to make sure there were no cars coming as she neared the crosswalk, and that's when she saw a familiar silver blur. It was as if it was in slow motion, but that silver car that she hadn't seen for too long suddenly shot past, driving speedily as it always did.

She felt as if the world had frozen. Had he really just driven past, or was she hallucinating?

Without thinking, Yuna's eyes darted to the right, just in time to see him stop at a stop light. She didn't even think. She felt the umbrella drop from her hands, and she cradled the jersey to her chest and began to run.

She sloshed through puddles and mud, cutting diagonally toward him, not caring that the drizzle was soaking into her clothes, and right to her skin. It didn't matter; she didn't feel it. She didn't know what she was going to do when she got to the car either, but it didn't matter.

A smile found its way to her face, and she slowed down, and started toward the car. The light turned green then, and to her horror, the car pulled slowly forward. She was just about to chase after it, to run behind him flailing her arms, when she saw the license plate. A Bevelle license plate, and not his infamous Zanarkand plate.

It wasn't him.

Yuna stopped, and it was then that she felt the drizzle hit her skin. She recalled when Tidus first got his car, and how he'd said that someone else in Bevelle had the same exact car.

"But hey," he'd said with a laugh, "at least mine has the Zanny license plate. So you'll always know which one's mine."

She began to shiver and she began to cry. She couldn't help herself. Her emotions were taking over her body, and she was unable to think at all. Her mind was, well, numb.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the car turning toward her again, obviously torturing her, just as the number thirty-seven was. She wondered if it would be like that for the rest of her life: if every time she saw that car, she'd cry, and every time she saw that number, she'd think of him.

"Yuna?"

The voice shocked her. She looked up, and there, just feet away from her, in that silver car, with the window down, was Tidus.

At first, embarrassment hit Yuna. She hadn't wanted Tidus to see her in her current state, after all!

She quickly wiped away the tears, and noticed a line of black on her arm where her mascara had rubbed off. She cursed herself, for she knew that no matter what she did, she looked miserable.

"Yuna?" Tidus said again, his face full of what appeared to be confusion.

Yuna just stood there, staring at him blankly. She couldn't say anything. Then, she started to cry again.

She heard the door open, and before she could look his way, she suddenly felt his arms around her, and he pulled her close.

"You're going to ruin that jersey," he said, his voice surprisingly soothing. "What are you doing out here?"

She wanted to say "looking for you", but she couldn't manage. She couldn't say anything. All she could do was stand there, and attempt to look less foolish than she already did.

"Come on, let's get out of the rain," he said then, and he unwrapped himself from her, but kept his arm around her, as he led her to his car.

She took a seat in his car, and felt an overwhelming feeling to start crying again. After all, she thought for sure she'd never ride in that car again.

Tidus climbed in the driver's seat, and looked at her, a look of confusion on his face. Yuna simply stared straight ahead, and felt her cheeks redden at the embarrassment of Tidus catching her crying over him.

"Gippal called me," Tidus said, "and said you'd stopped by. So I came back to see you." He laughed. "It took me a while to find you though."

"You probably need to get going though, don't you?" Yuna finally found her voice, which came out meekly and soft.

Tidus shrugged, and said, "It's not like I'd be fired if I was late to my first practice or anything."

"I shouldn't bother you," Yuna just said, her eyes on the floor.

Tidus just laughed, and he said, "You're not a bother."

"I didn't want you to see me like this," Yuna said, and she forced herself to laugh. She figured the best thing was to make light of the matter.

Tidus just smiled a confused smile, and he said, "Why were you crying?"

Yuna gave him a shocked look. Did he seriously not know?

She sighed, and said, "I was afraid I'd never see you again."

Tidus laughed, and said, "That was my fault. I should have said goodbye."

"No, I—," Yuna started, only to be interrupted by Tidus.

"I was trying so hard to hold onto a past that just wasn't there," Tidus said, and Yuna realized his eyes were on the wet jersey that was on her lap. "I didn't understand why things weren't fun anymore, and I blamed you. But it wasn't your fault. Those times were just over."

He laughed again then, and tore his eyes from the jersey. "I was really shocked when you wanted to break up though. Not that I can blame you."

"That was my fault," Yuna said. "I was over-idealizing you, and… I guess I was afraid of getting hurt."

"Why?" Tidus asked, his question coming out innocently. "Oh, I guess it's because you don't trust me."

"It's not that I don't trust you!" Yuna said quickly, her eyes shooting to his. "It's just that I…" She didn't know how to back her claim.

Tidus just laughed, and he said, "Do you want a ride to your car?"

Yuna felt her eyes fade, but she just nodded. "Sure," she managed.

Yuna directed Tidus to it, but otherwise, nothing more was said.

Tidus pulled in behind Yuna's car as soon as they reached her parking place. He put his car in park, and gave her a small smile and said, "Well, I'm glad you got to see me again."

Yuna blinked at him a few times, and her stomach churned at her desire to say "me too". The words simply didn't come though.

"Come visit me in Zanarkand sometime," Tidus continued, taking advantage of her silence.

Yuna just nodded. Silence fell over them then, and Yuna finally found the handle to the door, and she opened it slowly, her voice saying a soft "bye" as she started out of the car.

"Wait Yuna," Tidus said, just as she was about to shut the door.

"Yes?" she asked, her heart jumping slightly.

"Sorry things worked out like this," he said, and he gave her a wry smile.

"Yeah, me too," Yuna agreed.

He gave her a shrug then, as if to show that he had nothing else to say. Then, he smiled, and said, "Goodbye."

"Goodbye," Yuna said. "Oh, and good luck."

"Thanks. Oh, and Yuna, I'm not kidding when I say I want you to come visit me."

"And I'm not kidding when I say I will."

"Good," Tidus said. He laughed again then, and with that, Yuna shut the door. He waved, and pulled out.

Yuna stood there, in the drizzle, and watched him as he went down the road.

A small smile crept onto her lips then, and she hugged that jersey tightly to her chest, suddenly not wanting it to get wet, not wanting it to get ruined.

She would see him again. She was already sure of it. Her, and Gippal, and even Rikku. They'd all go and visit him.

She went to her car then, surprised at the fact that although the weather was still dreary, it didn't seem that way to her. For all she seemed to notice, the sun was shining and the weather warm. To her, it was so sunny in fact, that she put her sunglasses on. Then, she put her car in reverse to pull out of her spot, and started off.

She looked to her right, and smiled broadly at seeing the large number thirty-seven on the jersey staring back at her.

He wasn't number thirty-seven anymore, she was sure, but to her, he always would be. He'd be _her _thirty-seven.

She was sure of it.

**A/N: It's kind of sad that this story is ending, once again. But, I had to end it now. And the reason it took me so long to end it was because, like the Basilisks, my team got cheated out of the playoffs. I was so devastated that all I could do for a week was mope around. Haha… **

**And then, to make matters worse, my number thirty-seven did go pro. He's gone. And there's a good chance I'll never see him again, unlike Yuna. I honestly wanted to give this story a sad ending, but… well… what can I say. I had to end it on a pretty happy note for you guys, right? Haha…**

**Well, I hope you enjoyed it!**


	17. Bonus Chapter

Okay, I'm sure you're all thinking "Um, bonus chapter?! This has never happened before!" Or at least, not in one of my stories.

The truth is, I had to do it, for a few different reasons. But I'm not going to share my reasons until after you've read the bonus chapter! Haha!

So, despite my intentions, enjoy!

**Bonus Chapter**

It had been a hard two months, but finally things were beginning to die down. The sun had finally started to shine, after numerous late-season snowstorms. Summer was literally around the corner, especially considering that Yuna only had one more test before she was officially done with her junior year of college.

She took a drink from her fruity green tea smoothie and pulled out her pink highlighter. She was happy to be back in her favorite coffee shop, a coffee shop that she hadn't been into since Tidus' departure. It was the same coffee shop that she had frequented constantly with Rikku and numerous times with Tidus. Her usual spot was in the back, but for her return, she'd decided to sit in the front, by the window, where she could glance out every now and then. It was a cute spot, but she had to admit that she missed sitting in the back, which was separated from the front by a large wall. It was more private back there. Even so, she wasn't really in the mood to relive her memories of her times there with Tidus, or even the times there with Rikku, talking about Tidus.

She was mostly over him. True, it had taken a lot longer than she thought it would, but she was finally feeling at least somewhat at peace. She had watched most of his games from her computer, despite the fact that before every game, she would tell herself that she wasn't going to watch it. Each and every time, though, she gave in.

His season was finally over though, which she was thankful for, since she could finally start focusing on school and not on Tidus' games. She could finally get over him.

She quickly highlighted a segment in her notes, and took another sip of her tea, and then glanced up, only to feel her face fall. Standing there, by the wall that separated the coffee shop in half, with headphones in his ear, was none other than Tidus himself.

Yuna felt her eyes pop open, and she sat there, staring at Tidus, who stared back at her in return. Finally, he walked over to her, taking his headphones out as he did so.

"Hey Yuna," he greeted her, confusion spread out across his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, studying," Yuna said, nodding to her book and notes. "What are you doing here?"

"Drinking a coffee," Tidus said, nodding back toward his table. "I thought you usually sat in the back."

"I thought it'd be nice to sit by the window for once," Yuna said quickly. "Um… so you're back in Bevelle… just for fun?"

"Yeah, my season ended, so I came to visit the guys before school was out and stuff. I'm going back tomorrow."

"Oh…" Yuna just said softly.

"Come sit over by me!" Tidus said then, and he put his headphones in again and started toward his table.

Yuna watched him walk away, with an unexplainable look on her face. She felt annoyed. Why was he there? At the same time though, she felt her heart begin to speed. What did he want?

She hurriedly threw her books into her bag, grabbed her smoothie, and followed him to the back, where he was now sitting. Sure enough, a glass of coffee sat in front of him, as did a brand new cell phone.

"Well, I know what you spent your first paycheck on," Yuna said, sitting down.

Tidus laughed and he said, "You like it? I just got it yesterday." It was a huge phone, one with the entire keypad and numbers and internet access and whatever else one could fit onto a phone.

"It's nice," Yuna said. "I didn't know you liked coffee."

"Dude, when you've got like a hundred early morning practices, you learn to like it," Tidus said, shaking his head.

"Um…" Yuna finally managed, "do you mind if I ask you what you're doing here?"

"My house is just down the road," Tidus answered.

"It's…" Yuna glanced at Tidus' phone, "eleven in the morning. Isn't that a little early for you?"

"Yeah, considering I don't have practice," Tidus said, sipping his coffee. "But I couldn't sleep."

"So you came here?" Yuna found herself asking.

"Why not?" Tidus just asked. "I live right down the street."

"_Lived_," Yuna found herself reminding him. She bit her lip softly and looked down at the table in front of her. Why was she being so difficult to Tidus?

"Right," Tidus just said. "Well, Gip's still sleeping. And I was bored. So here I am."

Yuna couldn't help but smile. He appeared a little groggy, like he wasn't fully awake, even as he sat there. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt with khaki shorts, and his hair was in some disarray.

"You seem a tad groggy," Yuna voiced this out loud.

Tidus laughed and he said, "Well, yesterday was my big two-one, so…"

"Oh right," Yuna said. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," Tidus said, his eyes on the coffee in front of him. "It's not that big of a deal though."

"How's it feel to be able to drink legally?" Yuna asked, her eyes on him.

Tidus let out a laugh and he said, "It was more fun to bum drinks off of unsuspecting women, actually. Having a legit I.D. and all that stuff is no fun. Takes the fun right out of it."

Silence passed between them then, as Tidus kept his eyes on his coffee, and Yuna kept hers on the table. Finally, Tidus looked up and said, "So you done with school yet?"

"I have one more final," Yuna answered.

"Right," Tidus just said. "That sucks."

Yuna found herself giving him a wry smile, and she said, "Do you miss school at all?"

"No. I thought I would you know, but I don't. Not now, anyway. Now that it's finally summer.

"But," Tidus continued, placing his hand on the handle of his coffee mug, "I do wish I could have stayed my senior year. You know that, right?"

"Gippal said you would have been kicked out of school."

Tidus laughed and said, "Yeah right. They wouldn't kick me out. Or off the team. I would have been out a long time ago if that was the case."

"You should have been more serious about it!" Yuna said. "What if you get injured and can't play blitzball anymore?"

"I'll just become a male prostitute or something."

"That's gross. And illegal."

"Come on Yuna, I'm kidding." Tidus let out a sigh, and he said, "So what's up your butt anyway?"

Yuna opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it.

"I'm sorry Tidus," she finally managed. "I don't mean to be so harsh with you. I guess… I wish you were staying one more year too. I don't want you to be so far away."

"Well, there's nothing really left for me here," Tidus said, leaning back in his chair.

Yuna let out a sigh that matched Tidus' earlier one, and leaned back too. How could he say such things to her and not think about if they hurt her or not? His words went straight into her, straight through her. They _hurt_.

"Tidus…" Yuna finally said, her eyes on his, the hurt showing in them, "why are you like this? Are you _that _clueless?"

"Clueless?"

"You just go and say things and never think about how they make people feel. Or is it all just fun? Do you like to make people feel bad?"

He just stared at her blankly.

"I have to go," Yuna said, and she grabbed her bag and her smoothie. "Goodbye."

"Wait Yuna!" Tidus cried. "Look, I… I'm sorry?"

Yuna, who was now standing, just looked at him, and said, "Good luck with everything Tidus. But I'm sure you don't need it."

"Aw, come on Yuna!" Tidus yelled after her as she started off. "Let me explain myself!"

Yuna stopped, and turned around to face him. He looked as if ready to stand, although he was still seated. His eyes were on hers, and she could tell that he didn't understand at all.

"What needs explaining?" Yuna asked, her voice soft. "I want to leave so badly right now, but I can't. And you know that, don't you?"

Tidus just stared at her blankly.

"Because I still have feelings for you," Yuna said. "And I probably always will."

"Right," Tidus said, and he looked at the table, in a familiar sheepish way that Yuna had seen before. "Right…"

"But you…" Yuna started. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "You don't still have feelings for me, and that's fine. But please, stop acting like we're just acquaintances. Stop making me… making me so falsely happy."

With that, Yuna gave him a wry smile, and she turned on her heel and started back toward the door.

Tidus was up in an instant though, and he followed her, and said, "Yuna, wait!"

She didn't wait though. She simply headed through the doors with him on her tail.

He caught her arm just as they were walking into the parking lot, into the warm, early-summer sun.

"Yuna," Tidus said, sounding breathless as he held onto her arm, "I'm not over you."

Yuna blinked at him, as if she didn't understand, and she felt his grasp loosen on her arm, and eventually, he dropped it, and both his and Yuna's arms fell to their sides.

"I just…" Tidus continued, his eyes on Yuna's, "I can't… I can't have a relationship right now."

"You could watch what you say then," Yuna just said, her tone cold.

"Come on Yuna, you know I don't mean anything bad."

"Why are you so sweet to everybody else, but me?" Yuna just said, ignoring him. "I've heard so many people coo about what a sweetheart you are. You even did a sweet little interview for that blogger who is in love with you. Rikku thinks you're awesome. But you're just mean to me."

"You think I'm mean?" Tidus just said, his voice soft.

"Well, not mean, but you're not sweet. You're always super tough acting and… you're just snotty."

"I'm sorry I come off that way to you," Tidus said. "I guess it's because I don't know how to act around you."

"Well," Yuna said, as she readjusted her bag on her shoulder, "I hate to just leave like this, but I'm… I'm actually trying really hard to get over you."

"R-Right," Tidus just said, looking somewhat shocked. "Well, you know, I'm leaving tomorrow, so… so I'll be out of your hair for… Yevon, a good year or so. Plenty of time to get over me, right?" With a small, truly sincere smile, Tidus turned to Yuna and put his arms outstretched in front of him, obviously indicating that he wanted a hug.

Yuna gave him a quick glare, but she found herself quickly falling into is embrace, not caring if she fell in too readily. He held her close with his arms around her shoulders, while she wrapped her arms around his waist.

The two stood there for a while, embracing in the handicap parking place in front of the coffee shop, before finally pulling away.

"Well," Tidus said, taking a step away from Yuna, "when you're over me, maybe we can chill or something someday."

"But what if you're not over me by then?" Yuna questioned.

Tidus laughed and started deeper into the parking lot toward his car.

"I can get you back," he said, and with that, he opened the door to his car, lifted his eyebrows at her, and climbed in.

Yuna stood there and shook her head, a smile on her lips.

"Well, when you're ready to admit that you can't live without me, come find me," Yuna just yelled out to him, as she started toward her own car.

"What's that Yuna? I can't hear you!" she heard Tidus' reply.

"You know what I said," Yuna just said with a laugh, as she climbed into her own vehicle. She glanced in her rearview mirror and saw Tidus, sitting in his car, just shaking his head and doing something on his phone. He had put a hat on, and it was sitting carelessly on the top of his blonde hair, the bill sticking out the back. He looked up at her then, smiled, and with that, he drove off.

Yuna watched him, and then started her own car. She heard her ringtone go off softly from her bag, and she grabbed her phone from her bag and flipped it open. A smile grew on her face, and she shook her head. Three words blared at her from the screen, right underneath the name of the sender, who was of course, Tidus: I love you.

Shaking her head with a smile still on her lips, Yuna quickly typed out a reply of "Don't toy with me."

It wasn't long before she got a reply of "I'm not."

With her bottom lip tucked under her teeth to the side, hiding a goofy smile, Yuna herself pulled out of the parking lot. She smiled at the sun-filled sky, and for the first time, truly felt as if the summer wasn't going to be nearly as bleak as she had thought it would. She laughed and gave her bag a side-glance. All she had to do was pass that final. She had a feeling she was going to be _much _more side-tracked than she would have been just an hour ago.

-

Alright, alright, it's just a cutesy little chapter (that's barely 5 pages) and it's pretty pointless, because really, it ends at about the same place the actual story ended at, just with an even more optimistic light. (it's sunny, not rainy, and Tidus finally told Yuna he loved her, just not really to her face, etc. etc.) The truth is, when I finished this story, I was feeling really pessimistic about everything. BUT, all that changed about two weeks ago! And so, I was inspired to write this chapter. (I won't go into detail, but I got a hug from _my _number thirty-seven. Haha, yay!)

Also, I thought I would take this opportunity for some shameless advertising! I put up a novel on fictionpress, and you can find it here: fictionpress(dot)com/secure/livepreview.php?storyid2510243. So yeah, if you're bored, feel free to check it out! Here's the summary I'm using (it's kind of a lame summary, so feel free to keep that in mind!): Leila Pillings received the name of "the one" in a dream ten years before her eighteenth birthday. After spending ten years on the lookout for this apparently perfect guy, she finally meets him. If he's "the one", shouldn't he return her feelings?

AND, I am planning on writing another (oh yes, another!) FFX2 fanfic. I'm still in the preliminary stages, but I actually have ideas for two of them.

The first one is the one I'm going to write for sure, and first. As of now, it's going to be called The Mode (um, subject to change). Here's what I have for the summary so far: Yuna is ecstatic when she and her best friend are granted internships at The Mode, a popular magazine that she dreams of working for someday. She's not so ecstatic, however, to find out that her first task is to somehow interview a secretive blitzball player.

The second one… eh, I'm not too sure if I want to write it yet. It's going to be called Green Ink, and it's actually kind of (but not really) mostly about Rikku. It follows Rikku and her best friend Calli as they take place in a summer program at a university in (I think) Bevelle. (Shush, I like Bevelle!) Basically, the girls' mentor is Yuna, a smart student who is studying law. The girls live with her and she shows them the ropes of the school and whatnot. While Yuna appears to have everything together though, she does seem pretty torn between guys: her new blitzball playing friend, Tidus, and her long-time boyfriend, Baralai. I say it's mostly about Rikku because Rikku spends her time trying to hook Yuna up with Tidus, while Calli spends most of her time determined to keep Yuna and Baralai together. Really, it's about Yuna though… Anyway, this whole thing came to me in a dream, and I started to write it last year, only to lose interest in it, and now I'm thinking about picking it back up…

Well, how's that for shameless plugs? Haha… see you all soon!


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